


(Breathing) Air underwater

by mervousmer



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermen, M/M, Mer!AU, Original Character(s), manga spoiler (one), mention of drowning, mer!kageyama, side!iwaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:47:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25528417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mervousmer/pseuds/mervousmer
Summary: When the crown prince of their realm goes missing, his personal guard Kageyama Tobio is ordered to bring him back by any means necessary. Yet, Prince Oikawa chooses to hide among the humans and Tobio has no other choice but to follow.Between learning how to walk on legs and searching for the prince he must also learn how to deal with warmth.Because Hinata Shouyou, the human who offeres his help is bright, loud and most of all /warm/
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 64
Kudos: 86





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom and I just had to indulge in one of my favourite AUs for this.  
> There are a few things I want to point out before you delve into this silly adventure:  
> First, I want to say thank you for the support I received while writing this. Thanks as always to my loyal beta who saves you from seeing the nonsense my brain produces.  
> Second, I tried to make Kageyama's experience on the surface as believeable as possible so please don't think ill of him when he isn't the most elaborate mer-boy out there :P  
> Third, my mers are kind of a crossbreed between mermen in the usual sense and sirens, because they are able to use a compelling voice called "Vrai"  
> Fourth, English is not my first language, but I tried my best!
> 
> There are some brief mentions of drowning, so if that triggers any uncomfortable feelings in you maybe it's better to skip this work.
> 
> Please have fun!  
> Comments are always appreciated *:ﾟ*｡⋆ฺ(*´◡`)

***~Prologue~***

≈≈ ≈≈

The frown etched deeper into Tobio's forehead. He turned around, eyes narrowed as he scanned his surroundings, trying to find their prince at one of the stalls looking at the offered goods or being busy talking to the common folk and enchanting them all over again?

Not that he needed to do that – the citizens of the kingdom had loved their crown prince from the moment he was officially introduced to the people and the royal court.

Everyone adored Oikawa Tooru.

And neither did he need to visit the workshops in the city if he wanted something, be it accessory or garment or whatever his royalness came up with. Oikawa was the crown prince, the apple of his father's eye and if he only snapped his fingers the royal tailors and jewellers would come running.

Yet, Tobio found himself out in the busy parts of the city, following the other around as he browsed the inventory of the various shops, knowing exactly what to say to the citizens to have them smile at him.  
To have them look up to him, admire him.

But when someone was respected and loved like that, one had enemies. This was the exact reason Tobio was supposed to be at the prince's side at all times and couldn't - under no circumstances ever - lose track of him.

But he did, right as Tobio tried to follow Oikawa to another stall, kicking forward and around two mers who swam past him.

The prince was nowhere to be seen as Tobio turned his head from left to right, uneasiness boiling from the pit of his stomach. It happened sometimes – but usually he was lucky enough to find the other surrounded by a crowd of common folk who wanted to have a closer look at their crown prince, ask questions or simply stare.

(Tobio had no idea what that was about – Oikawa was just like the rest of them, head, torso, tail and flukes. Nothing sublime about any of that, so Tobio was left wondering. In the end, he concluded that it was his status and nothing else.) The prince had vanished and Tobio felt his annoyance rising fast.

This was the sixth time during this moon already and it definitely wasn't because Tobio hadn't paid attention. The prince was deliberately sneaking off alone to the Depths know where, leaving Tobio at a loss and frustrated. He wasn't even that worried about Oikawa – anyone stupid enough to kidnap him would probably return him voluntarily after a day or two - but Tobio took his job seriously, no matter how much he actually disliked the prince and the guard duty that had been forced upon him.

He let his gaze wander over the plaza again, dark blue taking in every face he could see from his position, but it was to no avail. He wasn't here anymore, had managed to slip away yet again.

Tobio growled and kicked off, swimming as fast as possible into the only direction that the Prince could have taken without being held up by some devoted citizen or patrolling palace guard.

Out of the settlement and far away from the palace.

Even if he wasn't fond of Oikawa, he had been his personal guard for long enough to know him to a certain extend. And if anything, the way the prince loved to complain loudly about all the 'stupid and useless duties' a prince had to fulfil was indication enough that Oikawa would rather leave behind his title and not ascend to be the Grand King of the East Sea.

(Tobio could understand the sentiment however, as the palace was more like a prison to the both of them.) Not that Tobio cared much about what the prince wanted - being a prince was Oikawa's obligation, much like his own duty as a soldier, and they were stuck with that now.

If royalty was involved you didn't want to attract too much attention just because you didn't like the work you got asigned.

So, he would get the back, hope that his father would talk some sense into him and continue to ignore the prince's tirades while following him around like the good soldier he was.

 _Was_ indeed.

There had been a time when he had been a soldier, a warrior – always out and about to make sure their kingdom wasn't being threatened. Scouting the deep parts of the sea and mapping new hunting grounds.

But that had been before he got elected as the prince's personal shadow.

Tobio glowered as he kept on looking for Oikawa, swimming as close to the borders of their realm as he dared, without any luck. He knew what lay to the west and it caused his stomach to drop.

The human territories weren't too far from there.

He doubted that the prince had been caught by dathaals and heaved on their fishing boats. The humans barely came out this far anymore and besides, they all had their shell blades with them that easily allowed them to cut open the nets they used.

Tobio stopped, bubbles tickling his skin and scales as they travelled along his body and drifted upwards to the surface.

  
An idea had formed in his head and he wasn't really sure if he wanted to follow that train of thought through to the end. It seemed stupid, absurd even, but he couldn't deny that it was a possibility.

If the humans hadn't taken the prince, but the prince wanted to get away from his royal duties and rules that bound him...

What if he-

Tobio had to swallow, the idea so utterly against everything he believed that he needed to collect himself before finishing.  
What if Oikawa was hiding among the humans.

Voluntarily.

To get a break, take a breather or escape indefinitely?

A tremor travelled down his spine.

Oikawa was definitely stupid, far too confident for his own good and reckless, but he wouldn't do something as dangerous as that, right?

But the moment the thought had formed Tobio knew one thing for certain:

If someone would dare to do _this,_ simply because it offered the perfect opportunity to hide at a place where no one would look... then it was Oikawa Tooru.

≈≈ ≈≈

If he was completely honest, the prince could rot with the dahtaals. Tobio didn't care the slightest bit what happened to him. Oikawa and his reckless habits were the very reason he was bound to the mer as his guard in the first place.

He had always liked to play pranks on the palace staff, sneak away before his princely classes and never making it to official dinners.

But then they had ordered Tobio to become his ever-following shadow, ordered to ensure that the prince wasn't only safe, but also supervised at any given moment.

For Tobio, the day he had been selected from the most promising young warriors had been the worst in his life.

No more patrols out in the Deep Sea, no more hunts in the Eastern Torrents. Barely any time to go and see his parents. His old life had been stripped away from him, bundled up and tossed away. A new life, a new routine, was installed as a replacement and he hated every second of it. And all of it only happened because their crown prince was acting selfish.

But one did not simply say no to the royal family. To the King. Besides, his parents had been ecstatic at his election as Prince's Guard. They had celebrated his selection, looking at him with eyes full of pride and affection, rubbing their foreheads together and nuzzling his gills the whole evening. Tobio had never felt so happy in his frustration, felt so cherished in the eyes of his impending doom.

He'd do it for them, he had decided.

To have them look at him like that for a while longer. See their pride, their joy when they talked about him. See his fellow soldiers look at him now with a neutral face instead of a sneer.

But now?

With the crown prince gone the whole court had been in turmoil, especially when Tobio returned after an evening of searching, swimming until his muscles hurt and strained from propelling him through the tides.

At first, he had honestly expected to be punished, but the King had only let out an exasperated sigh.

“I was wondering how long it would take him to find a way to slip away from you, Kageyama. It seems the time has come.”

Tobio hadn't said anything, just lowered his head in another silent apology.

“Do you have any guess about his whereabouts?”

He wanted to shrug, too tired to really care.

And seeing as his head was still on his shoulders, he kind of hoped to be relieved from his duty should the crown prince not come back.

But then he remembered that as the Prince's Guard and member of the royal soldiers he was sworn to honesty. Sadly.

He closed his eyes for a moment, pushing away the fatigue, the throbbing of his muscles and returned to the only possibility that was left. He had spent the whole day eliminating all other options with his search.

  
“The dahtaal, your majesty” he muttered then and looked up, realising that he had been mumbling.

“The humans,” he repeated, louder now, “The crown prince might have gone ashore to hide among the dahtaal.”

Whispers erupted in the throne room, courtiers and advisors gasping, mutters of 'impossible!' and 'utter madness! Not the dahtaal!' bouncing of the walls. Yet, despite the surprise that seemed to befall everyone present, the King kept a level head, nodding.

“It's Tooru we are talking about... he has been fascinated with those damn walking creatures since he was little. I wouldn't be surprised to find him floundering on their beaches.”

That caused Tobio to smirk. He _did_ hope that wherever Oikawa was, it wasn't easy on him. But the grin vanished with the royal's next words.

“Then go, Kageyama. Bring him back to his people. By any means necessary, do not return without my son and heir. Failure will not be accepted. Don't disappoint your parents.”

And that was that.

Tobio knew what that meant. He wasn't stupid. Once you got tangled up in affairs of the royal family your life wasn't going to be easy anymore. It wasn't really _yours_ anymore.

It had been a threat – not even hidden among pretty words. The wave of panic had hit him the moment the words were spoken.

Failure will not be accepted. Don't disappoint your parents.

_Don't fail me, or the lives of your family and your own will be forsaken._

Tobio had left the throne room immediately, knowing that every second he wasted was a second he could need for finding the crown prince.

To keep his parents and Miwa safe.

Not that he told them what he was about to do. Tobio wanted to keep them out of this if it was possible. He returned home, made sure they were faring fine before announcing he would be away on a mission with the crown prince and that they shouldn't worry.

They looked happy even – they always did when he mentioned anything in relation to his duty in the palace.

So he tried to smile for them, touching his forehead to theirs without lingering, without giving anything away on the next morning when he was preparing to leave.

Only Miwa regarded him with a wary gaze while he nodded to his parents, but thanks to the sea gods, she kept silent. Let him do it his way again and he hoped that the wobbly smile he sent her was enough to let her know that he appreciated it.

Then he grabbed his shellblade spear, pulling it out of the soft sand and strapped it on his back.

He could only hope that this was one of Oikawa's short tantrums again. He'd try to hide for a while and return to his life, complain, annoy him, sneak off.

Rinse, repeat – he was used to this. But he had never disappeared longer than the sunlight lasted. He usually came back when the moon came out.

Tobio would make sure to give him a piece of his mind though this time, crown prince or not.

He couldn't care less about him, but this behaviour was simply egoistical.

And though it really wasn't his business... he was sure that the king and the princess were worried about Oikawa. Tobio remembered the story about how they had lost their Queen when she had been attacked on a stroll through the Western Coral Reef and thus he could kind of understand why the king wanted him back at all costs. Aside from the fact that he was the heir and all. He had a duty to fulfil. They all had.

Tobio had been a good soldier, a good hunter even without his voice, his _vrai_ , to lure in prey. He didn't need a compelling voice to make a kill.

And he had still bested everyone in his regimen. (Not that it was allowed to use your vrai during practice, but still.)

Not that it mattered any more. Even if he could use his vrai, the moment he would try it on the crown prince his head would be off – and if all of his luck ran out they'd cut his fins and leave him to vegetate.

But a dahtaal.... humans could be compelled with the vrai.

Tobio knew the stories of the old times where merfolk had lured sailors into the depths to kill them for coming too close to their homes. Knew the stories of lonely mers who had sung until a human came to them and headed their every word. Brought them treasure or mated with them.

The thought caused him to scrunch up his nose. He was pretty sure that half of these things had been made up by the elders to scare the young fingerlings.

But one fact remained – the dahtaal were vulnerable to their compelling singing voices and that left Oikawa with one clear advantage that Tobio didn't have.

He would have to make do. The travel to the western borders was nothing but exhausting. Tobio hadn't had much rest after ending his search, going straight to the King and then home to get as much sleep as possible (meaning almost none as he kept on pondering on how to drag the prince's scaled butt back home) and say his goodbyes.

His tail was protesting already, but he propelled himself ever forward through the waves that would soon kiss the soft sand of the surface.

And if Oikawa had really shed his mer-form to hide among the dahtaal... that meant that Tobio had to do the same.

Blend in with them, trading his tail and fins – everything that made him into who he was – for human limbs.

  
It made him swallow, and not even the constant flow of water around him could calm his nerves. This was home to him – the way he swam with strong and fluid motions getting him anywhere he wanted. Using the little time he had to explore or re-visit places he had discovered during his time as a normal soldier.

The depths, the cool serenity of the sea brought him tranquillity away from the judging eyes of his peers or the loud noises of the crown prince.

Yet, there was no other way, and though it made his stomach coil Tobio knew it had to be done.

It had been a while since he had reached adulthood – the first time his kin were allowed to shift for their test of maturity. They were instructed by the mer that had done the same a year prior to them. They had studied sunken statues of the humans, memorised their anatomy. Only if you knew how you wanted the outcome to be like, did the shift work. It was like constructing something from memory and if your blueprint was faulty then so was the result.

And no one wanted that to happen. (The elders made sure it was engrained in their brains before they could even think about trying it out)

Hunting with two _legs_ instead of his familiar tail had been a challenge. Everything had been different – the most prominent change being his speed.

He had been so utterly slow. Flailing around those two appendages, trying to figure out how humans didn't drown the moment they got into deeper waters.

They could swim like this?!

It had taken him what felt like ages to get those limbs to work in some kind of way that didn't scare away every fish in the seven seas and kept him in the same place. (Swimming had been a little easier as every movement just sent you off in a direction, but staying still had been another thing entirely)

But there hadn't been a need to shift since then. It was only meant for emergencies anyway and aside from that... there was something else - something much more complex and complicated than legs.

Tobio concentrated on the steady stream of water that travelled through his gills, how his gill covers fluttered and the oxygen that fed his lungs.

They had to go. Humans didn't have gills. They had never evolved like the mer had.

Pitiful, in a way, but like that they kept away from them, stuck on land.

Tobio didn't want to imagine how it must be, never swallowed by the sea, never adrift and pulled along or fighting against the currents.

Never free.

He was about to find out.

He kicked again, the surface coming closer. He saw light streaming through the water, guessing that it was shortly after dawn now.

Clicking his tongue in a familiar rhythm, he felt the sound waves hitting a large obstacle and followed the source of the sound's reflection, waters becoming shallower and shallower. When he found it too dangerous to get closer in his current form, he stopped, keeping afloat just below the surface where the light danced above.

Water streaming in and out of him.

His eyes wandered down his body, following the black scales that covered the lower half, turning a deep navy where his tail merged with his strong fin. Tobio didn't really see this colour often, as it was dark below and he remembered how surprised he had been the first time he noticed the different shades of blue. He had assumed that the scales on his body just grew in a plain black like his hair.

But now, if he watched closely, he wasn't even sure if the scales at his hip were black or just a dark shade of indigo.

He committed the image to memory – he would need it for turning back and let his fingers dance along his gills, mapping out the slits carefully.

When he was sure that everything was stored away safely, he closed his eyes and willed the change to happen.

' _Legs_ ' came easy enough but the moment his tail split into two his mouth opened with a sharp gasp, sending bubbles up above. Gods, he had forgotten how much that hurt, but it only lasted for a few heartbeats like when he had done it before for the test of maturity, toes and calves and thighs. The lower abdomen was a little harder, but he thought he managed the transfiguration well enough considering he had mostly skipped those explanations back in the days.

He had genuinely not been interested – it wasn't like dahtaal genitals were needed for hunting prey or escaping from other humans.

Not having his tail to rely on felt weird and surreal, but he could make the legs work quickly enough, aiming for the water's surface. The gills on his neck closed slowly though, and with a hot, sweltering pain that Tobio had to bite through.

He almost hummed when the burning stopped, but the foreign feeling of not being able to breathe made his head start to swim as he pushed forward with his arms to cross that last distance and break the surface.

Tobio was met with lilac and pink painted across the sky, the sun rising over the far-off horizon. He blinked, squinting his eyes to get used to the intensity of the light, before he found the beach where the human settlement had to be.

Not too far away, he mused. He should be able to get there in a few moments-

He stilled.

Something was wrong.

A croak left him, his mouth opening for something that he didn't understand, and he realised belatedly that he still wasn't _breathing_ and that he didn't know how to do it. He had no idea how humans breathed – he vaguely remembered the elders saying something about instinct – but his brain couldn't conjure up any more memories as his lungs were fighting to somehow get oxygen into his system. And failing.

His vision grew blurry, his mind hazy as his mouth opened and closed, arms flailing to keep him above the surface.

In the back of his mind Tobio knew that if he swallowed too much water, he was done for. That the very element that kept him alive otherwise would kill him in this form. He might have imagined a voice in the distance then, loud and bright and calling something that he couldn't make sense of. But it might have been just that – his imagination.

All that he felt was the panic that surged through him and how he trashed wildly in the water, going down and coming back up from the way his legs were floundering.

He wanted to shift back, willed his gills to come back but his consciousness was already slipping away, all mental images and concentration gone.

Dark spots appeared in his vision, his legs growing heavy, but then suddenly he saw a flash of orange from the corner of his eye. Tobio wanted to hiss and get away but his body wasn't listening to him anymore in the slightest.

Nothing worked, nothing felt right. Especially not the sudden hot touch at his upper arms.

“What are you doing!?”

So loud, so close? Tobio's eyes had fallen shut and he wasn't sure if his limbs were still moving, but the touch seemed to burn right through his skin.

“Hold on, okay! Breathe!”

Breathe...

His mouth opened again, and he gasped. Something filled him up, filled his lungs.

It wasn't water.

His world fell black.

≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**  
_A special thanks to L (I worship the floor you walk on) and Ainu who kept pushing me (who drew me a koi icon!! :D) and all that though the both of them don't even like mermaids._

_You're my heros :3_

_If you enjoyed the prologue, leave some kudos or a comment :D I'd be really happy._

_Anyway, I'm sorry Kageyama for doing this to you so early in the story but I'm sure he will be alright?_

_Maybe. (merbe?)_

_≈Mervous≈_


	2. Wave 1

***~1st Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

The first thing he noticed was the warmth.

  
His mind wasn't fully awake yet and Tobio wondered for a moment if he had come too close to an underwater volcano, which would explain the heat that enveloped him.

He blinked his eyes open, bright light greeting him and he finally remembered what had happened – or at least some parts and pieces. There was no underwater volcano and he wasn't even underwater to begin with.

Tobio mused that he wasn't dead at least – he felt too warm, too uncomfortable and too _real_ for that. And apparently (thank the gods), his human form's instincts had caught up as the elders had predicted they would.

Tobio was breathing – his chest moving slowly, up and down even under the heavy object that held him in place and smothered him with heat.

He let out a growl, his arms pushing at whatever that held him captive.  
It was too damn _warm_!

Finally, he managed to wriggle it off, realising that it was some large piece of heavy fabric that had been draped over him. (He was sure that he would definitely remember trying to stifle himself with that, and seeing as he didn't, this had to be someone else's doing.)

  
When the fabric had been pushed down to his hips he let out a satisfied hum, his skin finally cooling off.

Better.

But where was he? And how in the _deepest Depths_ did he land here in this – very fluffy but very warm _thing_. Tobio narrowed his eyes and rose slightly, using his elbows as support to keep upright as he searched the room for hints, but everything he saw just confused him more.

He could only guess that this had to be a human's home, judging by the many objects he couldn't identify. The room seemed absolutely cluttered, fabrics in different shapes thrown haphazardly over Dahtaalian furniture and a lot of weird-looking, colourful oblongs.

Tobio had no idea what these things were, but he could see some pictures on them and wondered if this was the human version of stone tablets. Swirling lines were drawn all over these objects, looking like what Tobio remembered to be the dahtaal's way of writing.

So yes, it seemed like he was amidst his kin's ancient enemies. Not exactly ideal, but that also had to mean that his human form was flawless, right? He had fooled those humans into thinking he was one of their own.

But that didn't really matter, Tobio reminded himself as he wasn't here for testing his form-changing.

He had a prince to find – and he didn't expect that to be easy. Oikawa wasn't fond of him either and he probably knew that they had sent Tobio after him, so he wouldn't make it easy.

A snarl left him at the thought and he bared his teeth for a moment when an image of a cackling Oikawa flashed before his inner eye.

  
Enough.

  
He managed to sit up (sitting was definitely weird, but his legs made it possible somehow), pushing the fabric away completely.

Only now did he realise that another piece of fabric was around him, but that didn't come off as easily as the large piece.

  
“What in the _Depth's_ name...!”

These were _human_ garments.

  
After trying to claw on them and failing to get rid of them Tobio decided to let them be for now. His mission was definitely more important than why and how humans wore pieces of fabric on their bodies.

He had to go now, and quickly at that, before the humans of this home could hold him up and ask questions.

“Stupid Oikawa”, he muttered under his breath, cursing him for the umpteenth time. His legs still felt a little numb, but he could ignore that. He got up, his eyes already set on what he guessed was the exit, when his world suddenly went vertigo.

“What the-” his arms flailed, but it was already too late and he came down with a loud crash. His new legs felt absolutely useless, wobbly and more like seaweed in the currents than anything else.

He scowled at his appendages, willing them to move and make him get back up when the wooden plank in the wall was suddenly yanked open, revealing that orange flash again.

“Are you alright?!”

Tobio only stared at the dathaal who had just entered, caught like prey in the face of the predator. He couldn't move, couldn't even blink. Tobio wasn't sure if his body had stopped breathing again.

A human.  
A freaking _human_ .  
So close.

With bright orange hair (that explained the impressions from before) and eyes that looked like lost treasure. Gold, amber and yellow rubies.

“Y-yes” he choked out, his tongue forming the strange word of the Dahtaalian language. He couldn't remember much – not that they had been taught a lot to begin with – but right now he was glad he had paid at least a little attention.

“Good!” the human said, a bright grin appearing on his lips as he came closer without asking, grabbing Tobio's arm and pulling.

“What are you-” he started to yell, but then he was already lifted off the ground and this time his legs seemed to steady him, keeping him upright.

“Helping you up.” came the reply, “I'm glad you're finally awake! You've been out for a few hours! Are you really alright? Maybe you should sit back down again, you nearly drowned on me you know? That was scary!”

A flood of words hit him and Tobio's brain had a hard time following at all. The human's hands were just as wild as his mouth too, with how the male waved them around before dropping them on Tobio's shoulders, squeezing.

How in the Depths was this human so _warm_?

He felt a shiver run down his spine, the warmth spreading all over his body again. Tobio didn't like it. It was strange.

The sea was never warm like this.

He took a tentative step back, his eyes landing on the broad smile that was still directed at him. Then he glowered.

“I can't drown.” he stated. What was that supposed to mean? He was mer-kin, it was literally _impossible_ for him to drown. Except – _oh_.

He had been in his human form and humans can definitely drown. Which should be a familiar concept to him, with how his ancestors used to lure the dahtaal underwater to kill them and everything.

  
Right.

  
“I thought.” he added then, grumbling when the human chuckled.

“I could see that! What were you even doing out there!”

Tobio blinked, his mind racing like a torrent to come up with the words he needed.

“I... I was-”

  
“Never mind! Just be careful next time. You owe me now. I'm Hinata Shouyou by the way and I'm really glad you're okay!”

How could a single dahtaal talk so much? How could he keep smiling – didn't his cheeks hurt?

But it didn't seem to bother the human in the slightest.

“Yes.” he nodded, not really sure what he could reply to all these words the other had thrown at him. If he had even understood everything the male had said.

“Not much of a talker, huh? That's alright. How about you sit back down and I get you something to drink, okay? Take it easy. You can stay till you're better!”

More words and Tobio just nodded, which was apparently enough for the other as he turned on his heels and left the room, not touching the wooden part of the wall again.

Strange.

Everything here was strange and this human was definitely the epitome of strange.

Tobio headed the human's words however though and let himself fall backwards, sitting on the soft construction again (definitely not because his stupid legs still felt weak and useless!).

Perhaps the humans slept here? It seemed comfortable, safe for the thick fabric. That thing was simply a stifling abomination.

He sent the thing a glare, before his eyes drifted off to his legs that were currently hidden away by a black piece of cloth. His toes were free though and on a whim, he wiggled them.

Weird.

“These are called _pants_.”

His muscles tensed, his head whipping around to face the source of the voice that had suddenly piped up. Tobio bared his fangs without thinking as the tone hadn't sounded benevolent at all.

“Stop with the hissing,” the human in the hallway said, stepping inside the room. She was female, tall and her piercing light blue eyes didn't leave room for questions. “if you don't want Shouyou to hear.”

The bright human.

  
Shouyou.

Tobio didn't lower his guard however and instead tried to will his muscles to work so he might be able to dodge an attack from this female. Did humans frequently attack others of their kin? Or why was she here, looking at him like that with clear contempt in her eyes?

She regarded him for a while, taking him in and Tobio did the same, assessing her strength and realising that if she wanted to hurt him, he would probably be powerless to stop her at the moment.

He knew he wouldn't be able to get his legs to listen to him the way he'd needed them to and the revelation sent shocks of adrenaline through him, his nose flaring from how he tried to suck in air.

“Calm down, won't you? Shouyou will be back any moment.” the female said, letting out a sigh before she loosened her stance, her right hand coming up in a languid motion, her palm resting on her heart for exactly three heart beats.

Tobio felt himself choke on the next inhale.

This was impossible! But the dahtaal continued the gesture, turning her right hand palm up and extended it to Tobio, waiting for two heartbeats.

  
“ _Gyu vra'm.”_   
' _Peace, kin'_

This couldn't be true. How did she know? How _could_ she know? She was clearly dahtaal – as far as he could tell from the distance at least and yet – she had performed the customary greeting of his folk to visiting kin of other seas. Perfectly.

Tobio stared at her, his eyes darting down to his lower body for a quick moment to see if he hadn't changed back by accident and ruined his cover.

But his legs were still there.  
And still she knew.

“So. I was right.” the female said, a smirk on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I'm Nami Hinata. Shouyou found you close to the shore, drowning as far as I heard. Curious, as you should be just fine with water, huh?” she smiled mischievously, but Tobio noticed that there was genuine amusement in her voice, not malice.

His mouth opened to ask the most important question of how she knew about his kin and how she could tell, but their moment was broken when the male human came rushing back, a wooden tray in his hands.

“I'm back! Wha! Hey mum! See, I saved him just in time, he seems better already.”

The female, Nami, Tobio reminded himself, chuckled and ruffled her son's hair gently.

“Yeah, I can see that. Make sure he is well rested before he leaves, alright? I'll leave you two to it.” she offered and with another quick glance at Tobio she let them be.

“Sorry about that! My mum can be quite scary.” Shouyou smiled and dropped down next to him on the soft dais like thing.

“Here you go! I hope you like it!”

A cup was pressed into his hands that Tobio reluctantly accepted. It was warm (did everything had to be warm with these humans!), but he was too confused to fight against this bright human that kept on smiling at him.

  
It was irritating.

  
“You say thanks, when someone offers you something to drink, you know! Especially when it's for free!”

Tobio blinked, watching Shouyou's lips form a pout. His eyes drop back to the cup, steam hitting him in the face.

He liked the smell.

  
“Okay.” he said, “Thanks.”

“Better!” the human announced and he could even hear the grin blooming in his voice.

Carefully, he brought the cup to his lips to try the liquid that was inside, but as soon as he had had a sip, he couldn't help but gulp down more of it.

“It's good.” he announced, looking up, feeling something wet clinging to his upper lip, which apparently amused Shouyou as the human snickered at him.

“It's warm milk with honey. And you have milk all over your face, dummy! Here!” he said, reaching up with the fabric hiding his arm to wipe at Tobio's face.

“Better. If you like it so much, I'll make more of it later.”

He nodded, mouth already at the cup again to have another taste.

Maybe not everything about humans was bad. This could definitely pass as 'acceptable'.

“So.” Shouyou said after a moment of silence. “Why were you drowning? I mean... were you looking for something or were you just taking a swim... naked?”

It occurred to him that it was scandalous for humans to be seen without these fabrics that they use to shroud their bodies in. He distantly remembered hearing about that from the elders when they were looking at sunken statues, all eyes of the fingerlings big and curious.

  
Was that why Shouyou's cheeks were suddenly as red as the cup in his hand?

Perhaps.

“I...”  
What was he supposed to do now? He had to get away and look for Oikawa, that much was clear. But he also wanted to know why that female knew about his kin and him in particular. Did Shouyou know?

No. He hadn't greeted him like Nami had. Perhaps it was only his mother who was aware of the mer's existence?

“I'm looking for someone. Yes. My...brother!” he said, internally grimacing at the thought of Oikawa being his immediate family.

But saying prince had definitely not been an option and Tobio had panicked and now – Oikawa was his brother.

“Your _brother_?”

Well, he had to roll with it now.

“Yes. He... ran away from home. I have to find him. Family... worries.”  
The words felt strange on his tongue as he formed them, some of them for the first time. His voice even sounded weird - speaking the Dahtaalian language - but at least he could somehow communicate.

“Guwah! That's terrible! I hope nothing has happened to him! We need to find him!”

“We?” Tobio asked, brows furrowed. There was no we – Tobio was here alone and he would definitely not team up with a human and look for their kingdom's crown prince with him!  
  
“I'm gonna help you! It's no big deal!” Shouyou announced, broad smile back on his lips that had Tobio torn between staring and averting his eyes because he didn't know how to deal with it.

Was this human always so happy? So _loud_?

“I don't need your help, silly da-” he stopped himself, his mind racing to think of another word that he could use, before finally spluttering “d-dumbass!”  
“Hey! That's no way to talk to someone who offered you help! And you'll need it, believe me, dummy! I bet you don't know this town at all. You're not from here, are you?”

_Whale's eye._

Tobio's mouth fell open, ready to retort, ready to rebuff this human, but he didn't have a reply. The human was right, and it only made him scowl in frustration.

“See. You'll need me.” the human chuckled and nudged their shoulders together.

“Don't worry! My help is free of charge! I'm sure we can find your brother. Me and my mum know most people of this town. We can ask around.”

Tobio had never asked for help. Never in his life. And it wasn't offered to him either, especially not as an adult and a soldier.

You just tended to your own business.

And yet.  
This human, who didn't even know him for a full day, who had pulled him out of the sea and gave him pants and milk... wanted to help him beyond what he had already done.

There was a warm feeling flooding his chest and Tobio hated it immediately.  
Too warm.  
Humans made everything too warm.

But he knew that if he wanted this mission to be over as fast as possible, he should probably accept the offer. It might also give him a chance to talk to the male's mother again.

He growled.  
Tobio really didn't like it, especially not with the dathaal smiling at him like that. He just didn't know how to deal with that at all, which made him eventually reply with a grunt.

  
“Fine, dumbass.”

He earned another yelp and a shove, but Shouyou's grin didn't falter.

≈≈ ≈≈

When the sun had set, leaving the neighbourhood dark and the house illuminated by artificial light (Tobio had decided not to ask about that, he knew his brain wouldn't be able to comprehend human inventions just yet) it apparently meant that it was time to sleep for the human.

And Tobio began questioning his decision to rest for a while all over again.

The dathaal had kept on talking, asking about his brother and his family that he had a hard time answering.

Not because there was nothing to tell – there was, plenty especially with Oikawa and how much he disliked him – but being mindful of what he was saying wasn't easy for Tobio. He wasn't really used to speaking that much to begin with and when he did, he rarely held back his honest opinion.

So he kept his answers short, only mumbling things like 'he is an arrogant prick' and 'I have to find him soon' while his scowl deepened.

“You'll get wrinkles if you keep on frowning like that.” Shouyou commented, hiding his smirk behind his hand, while the other re-arranged a fluffy looking square in front of him. Tobio had one of those too – he liked them. Apparently humans rested their heads on them.

He found they also made excellent weapons because he grabbed his fluffy square and launched it full force at the human who went down with a yowl.

“I. do. not. get. wrinkles.” he growled, glaring at the human who had started to laugh in earnest, the fluffy thing still covering half his face.

“You will get wrinkles from laughing.” he retorted, lips quirking with the tiniest smirk while his eyes were still narrowed down. Hopefully the dathaal would learn its lesson.

“That was so unfair! I didn't know you're into pillow fights!”  
“Pillo-- wha!”

The human hadn't wasted any time and threw his fluffy square – his pillow – right back at Tobio. It smacked him right across the face and the noise that came out of his throat sounded absolutely pathetic. He hadn't even realised the human had been moving!

“Dumbass! That was-”  
But Shouyou was already giggling again, his amber eyes looking at him, absolutely unaffected by his death glare.

Apparently dathaals were faster than he had thought – or Shouyou at least. And fearless.

But he didn't really know any humans beside the one sitting next to the cushioned dais - on something he had called a _futon -_ so he could only speak for him. Shouyou had never looked the least bit bothered by the way he spoke or glowered at him.

Was that normal for humans? Did they express their chagrin differently?

In any case, Tobio hoped that he could memorise all this dathaal language that came up.

 _Pillow. Futon. Door._   
He was getting there. He wouldn't need anyone's help.

“Boys, keep it down. I bet even Uncle Ukai from next door can hear your antics.”  
Tobio turned to face the door, his pupils focusing on Nami in an instant. Instinct told him to clench his hands into fists and he felt his lips pull into a snarl to scare her away.

He still didn't know what to make of her.

She regarded him with her ever cool gaze, one eyebrow up, her hands holding a tray.

This human wasn't taking any shit and she was absolutely unimpressed by his demeanour and attempts at threatening gestures.

Tobio deflated, his hands relaxing, his lips their typical thin line. Suspicion and caution remained, but Shouyou was there in the room with them and he had a feeling that Nami was trying to keep her son out of this.

“Mum!” the fiery human whined, pouting.  
“No pillow fights at this hour. I know you have the day off tomorrow, but you nearly drowned yourself while pulling this young man out of the water, so have an early night today. Okay?”

Now it was Shouyou's turn to deflate, a long sigh leaving him.  
“Okay, mum. Thanks.”

She smiled and came closer, placing the two cups from the tray on the wooden box next to the bed.

 _Bed.  
T_ he cushioned dais he had been resting on and the place where daathals slept. Comfortable. Tobio liked it, except for the blanket that had been trying to stifle him before.  
Too warm.

But then something else occurred to him. Nami had said that Shouyou had nearly drowned himself when pulling him out of the water?

Tobio tilted his head, eyes landing on the human who was finishing his nesting process or whatever before tending to the cups.

He couldn't really see how – Tobio wasn't that heavy probably, and thanks to the more revealing sleeping clothes that the human was wearing right now he could see that Shouyou wasn't short on muscles.

  
Strange.

Everything about this human was strange.

“Hey. Hey. Are you listening?”

Tobio's face flushed red when he realised he had been zoning out, his eyes blinking rapidly to regain his focus.

“Y-yes?” he rasped out, finding Shouyou smiling at him, arm outstretched to hand him one of the cups.  
“It's warm milk again. Do you want it?”

Tobio glances at the cup and inhaled deeply. The scent immediately flooded his nose and he had to fight hard against the grin that threatened to bloom on his lips.

He grabbed the drink with both hands, bringing it in for a sip and to hide his expression.

It was good.

  
He liked milk. He didn't even mind that it was warm. It was a good warm.

“Thought so.” Shouyou said, plopping back on the futon, grin directed at the ceiling.  
“Is it your favourite drink?”

Would he ever stop with the questions? Tobio gulped down more of his beverage, getting lost in the savoury taste of it for a moment.  
“Yes.” he replied simply.

There was no way in the deepest depths that he could explain to the other that he had never had another drink in his life.

And this was really good. Probably the only thing he might miss when he got back home.

“You can have lots then. It's good for the bones and everything anyway. Is that why you are so tall? Cause you've been drinking so much milk?”  
Shouyou had turned onto his side, treasure eyes looking at him imploringly.

Tobio had no idea how to answer that – he had no idea if he was 'tall' for human standards, though he was taller than Shouyou and Nami. He was big for mer standards, but that didn't really apply here.

“Yes.”  
“No fun~~ I should have done that too. Now I'm stuck with my height.”

His brows came together at that, seeing the human anything but ecstatic for the first time. Tobio wasn't good at reading people, but Shouyou definitely looked upset.  
“Why?” he asked, genuinely confused. “You're fine? You're fast... and strong. You pulled me out of the water.”

For a moment, the room fell silent. The dathaal stared at him as if he had said something completely unexpected – which only confused Tobio more.

The things he had said... weren't they obvious facts?

His heart skipped a beat before slamming back into rhythm, faster and harder as discomfort settled over him. Tobio suddenly felt nervous under the human's stare and backed away slightly, his lips pulling up in a snarl already.

He didn't like being stared at like that – he didn't like making mistakes.

“Do you mean that?”

“Wh-what?” he croaked out, meeting Shouyou's eyes with his own. His gaze was intense – flaring like underwater lava.

“That you think I'm strong. Fast.”  
“I don't think that,” he growled, not really sure where this was going, “I have eyes. I know you are.”

Another moment of silence stretched out between them and Tobio hoped that he hadn't upset the dathaal further. Despite everything – the happy bubbling personality and the annoying warmth – he _was_ grateful for being saved.

“No one ever said something like that about me. Thanks, I guess.”

The smile that he saw on Shouyou's face now was unlike the previous ones. It was small, tiny. Almost shy.  
But his eyes were glowing.

“Then they are blind.” he muttered under his breath.

  
In his world, Shouyou could be a good warrior. A good hunter perhaps with how fast he had been with that pillow. Human standards were apparently very different.

“Or maybe you are just different.” Shouyou chuckled and pulled his own blanket over his body. Tobio pondered for a moment if he should follow suit but decided against it. He was warm enough already from the heated milk.  
“You haven't... touched your milk.”

Better not to comment on how he was definitely not the different one. Dahtaals were just too complicated to understand.

“No wanna. You can have it.” said Shouyou, his mouth opening for a yawn that almost sounded like a crooning noise.

Tobio shuddered at that, averting his eyes.

  
Weird.

Different and weird. He didn't think that Dahtaal were supposed to produce such sounds – he had never heard about that from the elders.

His eyes drifted back to the forlorn cup on the wooden box, his nose picking up the scent easily. Tobio wanted it and seeing as the human had said he could have it, he took it, ignoring how the cup didn't feel as warm as the one he had had before and looked down again at the human who's eyes were already closed.

“Are you sure?” he asked, not comprehending how anyone would want to give up their milk like that.  
“Yeah. M'fine.”

Tobio definitely didn't catch the last part, but the 'yeah' was all he needed to down his new drink happily. He finished it in one go, licking over his bottom lip to get rid of the 'milk beard' or however Shouyou had called it before.

  
Good.

  
Maybe he should rest a little now as well. Tobio glanced down from his elevated position on the bed, taking in the form of the human. His limbs were relaxed, his breathing even.  
“Already asleep...” he whispered and placed the cup on the wooden box.

Good for him – he'd rest for a few hours and slip out when he felt a little more comfortable in this body. He had a light sleep and could easily wake up when he needed it.

Nodding to himself, he curled into himself on the bed, his eyes falling shut.

  
Nothing could go wrong.

≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**

Absolutely nothing can go wrong, riiiight?

:)

Right.  
We will see about that next time ;)  
  
A big thanks to Emily for a certain wonderful word in this ~~ >D

Happy Kagehina day!!!  
Take care and see you soon~~!

MervousMer


	3. Wave 2

***~2nd Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

Tobio didn't sneak out that night. Not that he hadn't tried - manoeuvring off the bed and over Shouyou's form as quietly as possible - but as soon as he had managed to open the door that let him out of the human's room his legs had decided to disobey and he had come crashing down on the floor again, startling Shouyou awake.

The human had been shrieking and it had been a miracle that Nami hadn't appeared again to shush him.

  
Tobio had looked at him, dazed and frustrated at his next failed attempt.

He had no idea what Shouyou meant with using the restroom and asking for help if he needed it, but the result was that the human didn't let him out of sight anymore, waking with every move that Tobio did during the night.

Shouyou also didn't let him leave the next morning, bringing him plates with food to bed and insisting on eating everything up.

Human food was weird, but not at all unpleasant.

At least he wouldn't starve while being on the surface.

“It's good, right? Mum made these waffles especially for you!”

“Why?” he asked, mouth still full.

“Gross. Keep your mouth shut. Hah, I finally know why mum keeps telling me to chew first and speak later.” Shouoyu chided him, shaking his head.

“And, because you are our guest.” the human continued shrugging his shoulders. “So, keep eating, I'll be right back, okay? I need some coffee.”

_Coffee_. (He told himself to find out what that was later.)

“Okay.” he nodded, watching the human leave the room before tending to the _waffles_ again.

Maybe after this there would be a chance to get away. The human couldn't always be watching him, right? That was sheerly impossible. He surely had some duties to attend to as well. Dathaal liked gathering wealth and treasures, so it had to come from somewhere.

So that might be a good chance.

A blaring sound unlike anything else he had ever heard yanked him out of his musings, ringing in his ears. Tobio brought his hands up to cover them as the loud sound continued to boom, shaking him down to the core, his senses being swamped with impressions.

Where was that coming from? Was that an attack?

Tobio hissed loudly, forcing his eyes to open and look for the source of the noise, palms pressing harder against his ears.  
His body convulsed, and he let out a loud gnarl at the unknown culprit, cursing loudly in _Llvrai'll_ and baring his sharp teeth.  
  
It _hurt_ .  
  
The noises hurt and he didn't know what to do and for a moment he wondered if this was Shouyou's doing, or Nami's, and if they wanted him in pain or catch him or kill -  
“Hey! Hey, look at me!”

Tobio lashed out at the new source of noise, his hand grabbing blindly for the attacker, coming in contact with warm flesh and digging his nails turned claws into it.

There was a shout of pain – a voice he knew – and Tobio let go instantly, his eyes focussing again. The noise was gone.

Shouyou was there, looking at him with wary eyes, a small black something in his hand.

The human looked _scared_ , eyes wide and body tense and Tobio nearly let out a whine at that, but then Shouyou was already leaning in again, trying to put on a brave face “It's okay.” he whispered, swallowing loudly

“It was just my phone. My friend tried to call me. You know what a phone is, don't you?”

No. No, he didn't know what a phone was or what ' _call_ ' meant in that situation. No one had called out to Shouyou, there was just this loud noise that had repeated over and over again, making him lose all reason.

His shoulders quaked at the memory, but he was working on getting his composure back in check.

“It- It was loud. It startled me.”

And that had been scary – Tobio was not used to being taken off guard. Which had also been the reason why he had been so impressed with Shouyou's pillow throwing speed.

A warm hand was suddenly in his hair, messing everything up.

Tobio froze, the warmth unknown to him.

And there was something else. A scent in the air, so close to his nose now.

His mouth opened, pupils dilating.  
Blood.

“Sorry.” Shouyou said, withdrawing his hand, “I tend to lose my phone, so I keep it on the highest volume in case I need to find it.”

Tobio's brain wasn't processing what the human was saying. He was breathing in again, confirming that he had indeed smelled blood. Human blood.

It smelled... sweet.

His hand shot out, grabbing Shouyou's lower arm and the gasp he heard made him flinch. So Shouyou was afraid. Intimidated?

Why did that bother him like that? He growled at the thought but remembered that this human had saved him and he shouldn't scare him. Not deliberately at least. Mer seemed to be scared of him without him doing anything already.

“You're hurt.” he said, pulling Shouyou's arm closer to him, inspecting it. The claw marks were unmistakably caused by Tobio. That had been him, all instincts and fight mode.

_Fuck._

“It's alright!” Shouyou bellowed, pulling his arm away and hiding the wounds with his other hand. The phone had dropped to the floor.

“Don't worry about it! It's just skin, haha... are you okay now? I'll turn down the volume...” the human chuckled, but Tobio had heard enough of his laughter in the short period of time to be able to tell that that one was forced.

Shouyou didn't even meet his eyes.

It didn't sit well with him.

What was he supposed to do now? He didn't want the other to be scared, he didn't want Shouyou to shrink back like that.

Tobio wanted to reach out, wanted to touch the other, and the urge in him grew until he remembered the other's cowed look when he had last tried to do exactly that. He stilled, his heart pounded painfully against his chest, as discomfort washed over him again.

Tobio felt utterly useless in that moment, not well versed with people at all, mer and human alike.

Oikawa was good at that.

People loved him.

Humans probably too.

“I-,” he tried again, but Shouyou shook his head, “It's alright. I'll wash off the blood in a moment. How about we see how your legs are doing later and then we can start with the search for your brother?” Shouyou said, already getting up.

Tobio wished he could do the same and follow.  
“Okay.” was all he could reply and the human nodded, seemingly satisfied.

He couldn't walk more than five steps on these damn legs, he was utterly overwhelmed by all the devices and things dahtaals owned and used and he would make an utter fool of himself if he tried to find Oikawa like this.

If he even made it out of the door.

Grinding his teeth together until his jaws began to hurt, Tobio realised that he might not be able to get away. That he did _indeed_ need a human's help to get around.  
That he might need Shouyou.

And he hoped the human had it in him to forgive him for hurting him like that, when all he had done till now was being welcoming.

Perhaps that was exactly Tobio's problem. He didn't know how to deal with the other's bright personality.

Or with that blaring noise, which had nearly caused him to turn back and thrash everything in his way. But he had to find Oikawa... and so he would try to be more careful.

No more mistakes.

He could do this.

“Shouyou” he whispered out, trying the name out loud for the first time since he had learned it yesterday. He had never thought much about it, but he had to admit that his nest name 'Hinata' was pretty fitting.  
Sunny place.

Shouyou was definitely that – bright and warm.

“Huh?” the human in question looked up, the wounds on his arm seemingly forgotten for now. Tobio hoped he hadn't dug his claws in too deep, but the more he looked at it the more it looked like punctures and not flesh torn open.

“Your name.”

Tobio had realised that this whole time he hadn't introduced himself to the other. He hadn't felt the need to, as he had wanted to get away as soon as possible from the human's home and get looking for the prince. Seeing as there was a change of plans however - and how he really wanted Shouyou to stop looking at him like that - it seemed appropriate.

“Uh, yeah! Hinata Shouyou, but Shouyou is fine, like I said. What about it?”

Did dathaal offer their personal names to anyone they met?

Whatever, Tobio mused. But then he had to properly reciprocate. Probably.

He straightened his back, scooting closer to the edge of the bed and closer to the human whose eyes never left him. But he didn't flinch this time when he lifted both of his arms, his hands reaching out.

But when Shouyou didn't move to complete the greeting he let out a low growl.

“Come closer, dumbass! How am I supposed to-”

The chuckle that rang through the room was an honest one and Shouyou brought his own hands up, bringing them together with Tobio's, holding on.

“What are you doing, dumbass.” he grumbled, letting go of the human's hands to bring his own to Shouyou's temples. Then he pulled him closer.

“What am I doing? What are _you_ doing, dummy!” the human protested, confusion in his voice, but he didn't struggle against the tug, let Tobio pull him in until their foreheads touched.

His eyes had fallen shut, his whole being focusing on the male in front of him, warmth, pulse, scent.

He heard Shouyou shifting, but for once he kept his mouth shut.

“Kageyama Tobio.” he breathed out his own name, stating nesting name before personal one as was customary.

  
Then he let go, slightly bewildered why Shouyou hadn't felt his own pulse, hadn't breathed in. Actually, the human had been completely still, not moving a single muscle.

Withdrawing his hands from the human's face, Tobio's eyes fluttered open, blue being caught immediately in a spell of golden amber.

Shouyou's eyes were open, round and wide, staring at him.

Tobio felt the heat roll over him, flaming his cheeks as he pulled back jerkily, shoving the human away.

“What the-” he exclaimed, eyes glaring at the human who offered a smile at him.

“That was weird.” Shouyou said, tilting his head.

“You were weird! You're supposed to close your eyes, stupid!”

“How should I know!” came the spitfire reply, “I had no idea what you were doing! I still don't know! What was that?”

“That's how you introduce yourself! What are you? A savage?”

Savage mer were dangerous and Tobio had seen enough of them to know that they would certainly forgo any kind of rituals and customs. They were wild, independent and, most of all, blood thirsty.

“Well that's not how we do it here!” Shouyou fired back, plopping down on his mattress.

His cheeks were rosy and Tobio hoped it was from embarrassment about failing something as easy as a greeting.

“What do you do then?” he asked, scowling. Humans really did have to be difficult, didn't they?

“I don't know! I mean I _do_ know, we shake hands, bow or hug if you're reeeally close! But no forehead pressing. Nope. Definitely no forehead pressing.”

A _hug_?  
What was that supposed to be? He filed that away for 'later'. Maybe it would come up again.

“Shake hands...” he muttered. That seemed terribly lame for introducing your personal name. But it wasn't like he was really surprised. Humans were weird.

“Kageyama.”

The mer turned human blinked, looking up to find Shouyou looking at him.

“You said that was your name, right? Kageyama.”

His nesting name, yes. He glanced away, a feeling of exposure washing over him. He had never offered his personal name like that. So easily.

“Tobio... is fine. I call you Shouyou. So, you can say Tobio.”

“Tobio” the human repeated, tilting his head before saying his name another two times as if tasting it on his tongue. “I like it!”

He wanted to retort something about it being his own name and that he didn't need approval of a human or anything. But the words wouldn't come to him, at least not in the human language and so he kept them inside.

“Okay.”

The grin was back on Shouyou's face as he got up, happy mood apparently restored.

“Thanks for telling me. It was slightly tiring to refer to you as 'hey' and 'dummy'.” he teased.

“No.” Tobio replied, shaking his head, “And... thank you. For helping me.”

Shouyou just beamed at him, all teeth and crinkled eyes.

“It's alright. I'll get washed up and we'll see about going out, okay? If your legs are up for it.”

A surge of strength rushed through him and his eyes narrowed while his lips pulled into a smirk. Tobio never backed down from a challenge and he had the feeling that maybe this time his legs would actually listen to him.

“You're on.”

≈≈ ≈≈

Going out turned into a short walk around town. As much as Tobio hated it, his legs were still not up to their full strength. He had never had to use them like this.

Swimming with legs and walking with legs were two completely different things he found out.

The only thing that made this a little better was the mental image of Oikawa being a useless tadpole on the shore when he had first tried to walk.

That made him feel a little better.

What bummed him though was that no one they encountered had seen a human that resembled Oikawa in the slightest.

Shouyou had encouraged him, saying that they hadn't even talked to many people yet, but Tobio had a bad feeling about this.

Dinner was good later at the Hinata home. He had eyed the fish on his plate – it didn't have a head anymore, and it was warm? Why was everything warm with humans? - but Nami had glared at him until he had quietly started eating.

It had been acceptable, just like the other things offered.

Humans were weird, but at least they knew how to feed themselves.

“Don't worry too much about it, Wrinkle-Yama” Shouyou had said, mouth full of rice. There was a bandage around the arm he had hurt now, the white a stark contrast to his sun-kissed skin. The sight made his stomach turn, but it didn't stop him from scowling.

“Tobio.” he interjected, “don't violate my name like that, dumbass!”

“To-bi-o~ Don't worry. We'll try again tomorrow. Your legs seem much better now, too. Maybe your nerves are finally recuperating.”

“Maybe.”

He knew Nami was watching him, trying to assess him just as much as he was trying to assess her. Tobio hadn't made much progress sadly.

“I have work tomorrow though. So you have to wait till I am back, around noon, okay?”

Work?  
Ah. He had wondered about that.

“Early shift tomorrow, Shouyou?” Nami asked, her voice laced with concern.

“Yeah! But I'll be fine, not much to do at the moment.”

“Okay. Take care though.”

“I always do, mum! Sheesh!”

Tobio felt out of place when he watched these two interact. He knew his mother worried about him as well, but this felt different.

He couldn't really explain the feeling and so he pushed it aside.

“I'll ask for your brother at work tomorrow! Maybe someone has seen him, I'll try at least.”

Tobio nodded again.

“Okay.”

Shouyou grinned, finished his rice and stood up.

“Thanks for the food mum!” he said, glancing over at him when Tobio stayed silent.

“I told you to show your gratitude when people offer you something. I really wonder what your home is like...”

The mer blinked, looked at Nami and lowered his head. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” came the flat reply.

He didn't need to be a people's person like Oikawa to know that she was not fond of him at all.

Or, perhaps, she was just as wary of him as he was of her.

It proved to be right, too.

Shouyou had shown him how to use a device called television when they went up to his room, flabbergasted that Tobio hadn't owned one at his own home.

“Your home is really off the track, huh?”

And because he hadn't known what else to say, he had nodded his head as always.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you can watch TV while I am out tomorrow. You got the basics down, right?”

Another nod and Shouyou had sprawled over the bed, shoving Tobio aside in order to watch a _movie_ with him.

It apparently wasn't that interesting however, because soon enough the human had fallen asleep on his bed and because Tobio was the confused mer he was had he slipped down to the futon, swapping sleeping spots.

He had been tired too, but Shouyou's body had been too close and too warm to fall asleep next to.

After getting rid of the blanket that smelled far too much of the human, he had curled up and found sleep. At least for a few hours.

It was completely dark in the room when he startled awake next, a hand clasping down over his mouth before he could bare his fangs or even hiss.

His pupils adjusted fast, the moonlight enough to make everything visible to him. Nami was hovering above him, fiery blue eyes narrowed down on him, one hand on his mouth and the other armed with a small blade.

A knife.

“Not a word.” she breathed out, barely audible.

She didn't want to wake Shouyou, Tobio noted.

He nodded wordlessly and she pulled away, the blade still close to his neck where she could cut him open should she want to.

He glanced behind himself, taking in Shouyou's sleeping form.

“Don't worry. My son is a heavy sleeper.”

He turned his head back around, fighting the urge of his body to form fangs and claws. Instinct told him to lash out, protect himself, but-  
But Shouyou.

And Nami didn't look like she actually wanted to hurt him. She just wanted him to know that she could.

“I have no idea why you are here, _Mer_.” she started, voice rough, “but if you hurt my son again, I will cut you up into tiny pieces and throw you back into the sea where you came from.”

Tobio's eyes widened. Not at the threat, but because he realised that she must have seen the claw marks.

“It was an accident!” he almost yelled, biting his lower lip immediately when he realised that he had been too loud.

The male behind them only shifted though, not waking.

“It better have been. Hurt him and I will end you. What did you say was your nesting name?”

Tobio growled but didn't avert his eyes. He wouldn't back down. He was a hunter, a warrior, a royal guard.

“Kageyama.” he muttered.

“Kageyama.” she repeated and her tone sent a tremor down his spine, “Shouyou seems to like you. The gods know why, but I'll let you be for his sake. If you hurt him or upset him in anyway, I'll make sure that the whole town comes after you and your kin. Are we clear?”

Tobio nodded, absolutely stunned that a small human woman like her could evoke that much terror in him. He believed every word she said.

She wasn't joking.

She would protect her kin, her family, her son.

“Okay.” he said again.

“Good.” Nami replied, withdrawing the blade and smiling as if she hadn't threatened to gut him open two heartbeats ago.

“Just finish up your business here and leave. It's a bad omen to find one of your kin at the shore.”

He didn't know what to say to that, but it seemed like he didn't have to think of anything as Nami pulled away, ready to leave again.

“Ah. Tomorrow I'll explain about the restroom and the bathroom. You'll need it. Trust me.”

And as always, he could only nod.  
“Okay.”

“Watch over him okay? You're pulling him into this, so you look out for him.”

And with that, she let him be, leaving the room and shutting the door.

Tobio stared after her, long after she had gone. His heart was beating faster than ever, but not from the threat alone.

He had never been tasked with something like that. He had been told to protect the prince and follow him, but this was something else.

Tobio had no idea how to look out for anyone.

He turned around again, looking at Shouyou who had managed to wrestle free of the blanket by now, limbs completely askew.

His eyes dropped to the human's wrist where the bandage had nearly come off from all the shifting the other had done during his sleep.

“Dumbass.” Tobio muttered, slowly rising from the futon before sitting down on the bed. Even that didn't cause the human to stir and it seemed as if Nami had been right.  
Shouyou really was a heavy sleeper.

(It seemed like a miracle that the other had woken up when Tobio had tried to escape the night before, and the irony of that was not lost on him. That idiot of a human.)

And this human liked him?

That only proved his point of him being a dumbass even more. He didn't even know him! Tobio was literally using him to find his 'brother'. And even there he was lying, seeing as Oikawa wasn't his brother at all but the prince of his kin. He wasn't even human!

Not that he would tell him _that_ .

Even if Nami knew... that was already one human more than there should be. Their kind had stopped hunting dathaal centuries ago to avoid being hunted themselves. Their technology had advanced too quickly for them to keep up.

So it was better if the humans thought of them as legends and myths.

He leaned closer, his eyes wandering over the punctured wrist, up the man's arm. Shouyou didn't seem like it, but Tobio knew that this human was stronger than his form let on. There was muscle hidden beneath that skin, both in his legs and arms. Again, the thought of him being an excellent warrior and hunter crossed his mind, but Tobio quickly shook his head, letting go of the idea as quickly as it came.

Even if what he thought was true, Shouyou was human.

He could be a good hunter on land, perhaps, but without gills he wouldn't be able to even get to their hunting grounds.

Not that he wanted to take the other there to see what he would be able to do.

Absolutely not.

He just missed his home, the water around him, the rush of a good and fast swim. Even if it had only been two days.

His gaze dropped back on the wound he had caused. He exhaled loudly through his nose, grumbling.

Tobio had caused it in his panic.

He had lost control over his instincts, over himself and hurt someone who - who actually wanted to help him.

Smiled at him.

Had introduced him to _milk_.

Another growl left him, but this time directed at the human on the bed, his lips pulled into a snarl.  
Stupid Shouyou.

As if on cue, the human mumbled something in his sleep, twitching with his foot.

_Stupid, weird Shouyou._

How was he even supposed to begin taking care of someone?

Tobio let out a low hum, feeling the vibrations in his chest as he leaned even closer. Heat radiated from the human's body, but Tobio couldn't say it was unpleasant. It wasn't stifling like the _blanket_ .  
It felt more like swimming right below the water's surface when rays of sunlight filtered through, a gentle warmth on his form as he swam.

Tobio bit into his finger, tearing the skin open with his teeth until he could taste blood. His tongue flicked over the broken skin, lapping at it before he pulled away, pressing his bloody digit over the marks on Shouyou's wrist.

He had no idea if that worked – Shouyou was human and not mer, but at least Tobio would have tried.

He wouldn't have ignored it.

Running the finger over each teeth mark, he distributed his blood as evenly as possible, and kept rubbing until his own skin had stopped bleeding. Only then did he pull away, tilting his head and looking at his handiwork.

He had to admit that with the added blood everything looked _worse_ than before, like he had tried to mangle the human.

Which he hadn't!

Tobio huffed and lay back down on the futon. He needed to make the human give up the bed again – the futon was okay, but the bed was better.

Sleep claimed him anyway, with dreams of crashing waves and underwater currents. If there was an orange flash among the images, he couldn't remember when he woke up.

And wake up he did, early according to the sun that was still burning in pink and red rather than its white beauty.

Tobio sat up, not sure if he could appreciate the sun tickling his face like that. It was a new sensation and he might not want that to happen again.  
It was weird.

Turning his head, he found one of Shouyou's legs dangling off the bed, blanket a crumbled mess. Why did the human even bother to cover himself then?

But something else caught his attention when Shouyou shifted in his sleep, his arm coming into view.

He saw it immediately – the unmarred flesh, wounds completely closed and his blood gone, absorbed by the human's skin.

Warmth flooded him, his chest swelling with pride at the sight.

His lips twitched, a smile tugging on them and he let it happen, grinning at the result. It had worked. (Somehow, it seemed)

Tobio had taken care of it.

≈≈ ≈≈

Humans were strange.  
That was not a new realisation for Tobio. He had been absolutely certain about that the first time he had learned about dathaal from the elders. About their history and how it had come to be that there were mer and humans now.

Why they had retreated, after having lured countless of dathaal into the depths.

When he learned some basics about their way of living, their language -the weird sounds they produced to communicate - Tobio had immediately decided then that he rather had nothing to do with them. Not that anyone of their kin was supposed to have any kind of contact with dathaal, but even as a tiny fingerling, he had known that he would keep away from human settlements even if he was a tiny bit curious.

And now here he was, in the den of the enemy, sleeping in the same room as a dathaal, eating the food they provided him with, wearing the clothes they had handed him.

The thing was – and that was a new realisation after spending a week on the surface – Tobio didn't feel like he was among enemies. Not with Shouyou's bright personality around him, and even Nami had started smiling at him after he had promised her not to endanger her son.

She made him food and covered up his lack of knowledge and ignorance of the human ways.

“ _Kageyama was born and raised on the Habomai Islands, Shouyou, don't overwhelm him with our mainland lifestyle.”_

He hadn't even asked for her help and she had provided it anyway.

Not that his human saviour had really asked. Shouyou _did_ ask a lot of questions, sure, but when Tobio chose not to answer or simply shrugged his shoulders he didn't get mad or pushy. Instead, he always gave him a smile and hopped on to the next topic.

Shouyou didn't suspect anything, fortunately, even after Tobio had healed the wounds he had caused.

“ _Mum! Look! My body worked really hard so I can continue practice! Hehe!”_

Practice what?

That was still something Tobio had yet to uncover. Sometimes the human left the house for hours on end and they could only go out and ask the town's people for Oikawa when he was back - which was okay he guessed.

Apparently that was because of his duties and said practice.

Nami had immediately looked at him when Shouyou had left the room, eyes narrowed to slits. When he had nodded, carefully so, she had gifted him the first of her smiles.

It had been weird.  
Because it had made his stomach flutter with a feeling he couldn't quite pinpoint.

  
Relief perhaps.

Nami helped him to gather knowledge that he needed when parading as a human, explaining how to use the shower, about garments, food.

And about 'using the restroom', which, undoubtedly, had been the most embarrassing and humiliating experience of Tobio's life.

And these were only things that happened in their home.

The town was a different thing altogether and Tobio had been glad, actually glad, that Shouyou had been with him.

He was used to the sound of his voice, his smell and the warmth that always radiated off him. But out there?

There were so many noises and scents and things happening all at once that it had continued to be overwhelming even after Tobio had finally gained full control of his legs.

Shouyou pulled him along, every day to a new place, to see and talk to new people, asking about his brother. How did he look like (which was easy enough to answer), what places he'd like to see (harder) and what things he liked to do (Tobio was blank there).

For seven days, they came back home without any clues. With each day, he could see that Shouyou felt more and more upset about it, the sighs getting louder and longer after another 'sorry, can't say I have seen someone like that'.

It was weird, Tobio thought.

Why was Shouyou the one getting upset about it, when it was Tobio's job and duty to find Oikawa?

He had nothing to do with that. He just... helped.

“I won't give up.” he said when they returned back home that day, looking at the human with determination, his lips pulled into a thin line. And he didn't know why, but Shouyou had blinked at that, before beaming at him.

“Of course you won't! We'll find him, Tobio!”, whooping and throwing a fist into the air.

Apparently, it had been the right thing to say.

“Of course.” he had replied, turning away so the human wouldn't see the crooked smile on his face.

“Wha, Tobio!” the human chuckled and nudged him. “Are you laughing? Are you laughing at me?” Shouyou pressed, trying to round him so he could look at his face. He wouldn't have that though, always turning away when the human thought he could finally get a glimpse.

“No! And- stop- this!”

As usual the other's movements were pretty fast, but Tobio managed to avoid Shouyou's intrigued gaze by jerking away every time.

Something told him however, that Shouyou hadn't been trying very hard.

Eventually, the human stopped and Tobio watched from the corner of his eye as he crossed his arms over his chest, pouting.

“What!” he growled, finally turning to face Shouyou who looked up at him with those big amber eyes. They narrowed, the muscles in the human's body tensing. He was upset again – Tobio could tell.  
“You know, it's not bad to show your smiling face, dummy!”, he started, uncrossing his arms so he could reach out and place both of his palms against Tobio's face, framing it.

His hands radiated off heat, and Shouyou's scent filled his nostrils as he inhaled, completely spellbound by the other's action.

Tobio hadn't even been able to react – hadn't flinched away. He had been utterly still, something that went completely against his nature as hunter and now guard.

So _warm_.

And then Shouyou's fingers dug into his skin, not painfully, but they prodded until the corners of his lips were pulled taut and upwards in a forced smile.

“Better!” the human grinned, those eyes focused on him for another heartbeat until he suddenly let go, his hands withdrawing.

“Hah! Sorry about that, that was weird, huh?”

His lips had immediately dropped again, his cheeks feeling uncharacteristically cold out of the blue. Tobio couldn't help but frown at the unusual feeling.

“It's alright?”

Shouyou hadn't hurt him or anything, so why was he apologising?

“Anyway! It's okay to smile! Even when you're probably worried about your brother and everything, don't put yourself back all the time, okay?”

It was one of these instances again where Tobio couldn't follow. He didn't know what Shouyou was talking about. He wasn't worried about Oikawa per se. But he was worried about what might happen should he return without the Prince.

And in his position, he really had no time to think much about himself, if that was what the human meant.

Perhaps he should have an extra cup of milk tonight. Maybe it would put the other at peace.

“Okay.” he breathed out, the heat of Shouyou's touch still lingering on his skin.

The human grinned in response.

Weird.  
The warmth he absorbed from the sun never stayed for so long with him.

“We should call it a day then, I guess... but anyway, I'm sorry we didn't make any progress. There are not many people left that we can ask...”

Tobio nodded as he didn't know what else to do. He had no idea how many people lived in this town. For him, the number he had encountered was already a whole lot. They all smelled so different from what he was used to, and the different places they worked at had even stranger smells.

But he remembered that he had liked a particular one, a few streets away from the beach. Perhaps he would ask Shouyou what it is the next time they passed there.

“But we won't give up! As you said! Maybe we can extend our search to Goyomai too... he might have travelled to a different town, if he was trying to hide, you know?”

Tobio tilted his head, his brain trying to make sense of what Shouyou had said, but he couldn't come up with the meaning of 'Goyomai'. His vocabulary had definitely improved during the week, but this had never come up.

“Go... yomai?” he repeated, looking at the human.

“Yes! It's the next town south of Nosappu, maybe 5 kilometres?” came the reply, paired with a shrug.

Tobio scowled and averted his eyes, a bitter taste spreading in his mouth. He hated when his lack of knowledge showed. He hated _lacking_ in any kind of way.  
He hated falling behind.

“What are you growling for, Tobio?” Shouyou asked, poking his shoulder, the same smile still on his face.

“I'm not!” he shot back, frustration getting the better of him “How am I supposed to understand if you're making it complicated!”

“What the hell!” Shouyou replied, obviously affronted. The human inhaled, getting on his tiptoes so he was closer to Tobio's face which caused him to lean backwards instinctively. Those eyes weren't soft right now.

“I am not making anything complicated! If you're confused, just ask, idiot! Don't just growl at people! Seriously!”

Tobio immediately bared his teeth at the human, his instincts reading the other's defiant stance as a challenge. But Shouyou didn't back down, didn't even blink as he stared up at him, his eyes more like molten lava than polished amber right now.

And it frustrated him even more.

That a human, no matter how strong and agile he was, could look at him like that, facing him without a snarl or any other threatening behaviour and make him stop in his tracks with his gaze alone. That Shouyou did this to him even after he had hurt the human before, after Shouyou had clearly been afraid of him.

But not for long.

Why was this human like that?

And why did he still want to help him even now? When apparently, all that Tobio managed to do, was rile him up.

He needed Shouyou's help. The conversation just now had proven it yet again, but with the way he looked at him in this moment, strong and challenging, he couldn't snuff out his own pride.  
“You are! How am I supposed to know what Goyomai is! Or Nosa- Nosahu?”

“Nosappu, idiot-Tobio!”

“Nosappu! I don't know what it is! So, don't act like I should!”

They were both shouting and he knew he could be glad that Nami wasn't home or the woman would have already interfered.

And that would never go well for him.

But these thoughts didn't even occur to him as he held the human's gaze, not intent on letting this go. He couldn't.

It was Shouyou, and though he knew that he needed him to find Oikawa, there was a part of him that he couldn't hold back entirely. That just wasn't him. And now that he was able to actually voice most of his thoughts in the language of the daathal, his thoughts also found their way out of his mouth.

“You're unbelievable!” the human said eventually, throwing up his arms “Just tell me you don't know! You've got nothing to prove to me, idiot. I know you're not from here, okay? Tch.”

Shouyou shook his head, re-adjusting his weight back onto his feet, breaking their eye contact.

Tobio exhaled, inhaling again after another heartbeat, but Shouyou's scent was gone. He couldn't tell if the human was angry or disappointed, but he felt himself deflating, his mind slowly clearing and revealing that he had once again messed up.

“I-”

“Whatever, Tobio.” said Shouyou, shrugging again. There was no smile this time.

“Nosappu is the name of this town, as you apparently don't know. Goyomai is our neighbouring community as I said. There are more people than here, so maybe someone has seen your brother there.”

The human's voice held no emotion, it was completely flat. Tobio had never heard the other talk like this.

“Okay.”

Everything that he couldn't deal with was ' _okay_ '. He didn't know what to do right now.

“Yeah, sure. Okay. I'll go shower, I have an early day tomorrow. I'm sure mum left some food in the kitchen for you.”

Tobio recoiled at the sharpness. It hit him like a whiplash.

“What about you?”

“Not hungry.”

And with that Shouyou had went up the stairs, ignoring him. When Tobio had come up to the room after eating some of the food that Nami had prepared, the other was already in bed, blanket covering his body.

“Shouyou?” he tried, sitting on the futon, watching the body of the human move with his breaths.

Tobio knew that the human wasn't asleep yet, so it was fine to talk, right?

“Shouyou?” he tried again, and again, eventually reaching out to shake the boy who whirled around, staring at him wide-eyed.

“I'm pretending to sleep so you won't bother me if you couldn't tell!” he yapped, glowering at him now.

Tobio pulled his hand back as if burned, dropping it into his lap.

“Oh.” was all that left him.

“You couldn't tell?” Shouyou pressed and he could only shake his head at that.

“I knew you were not asleep.”

“But not that I was obviously trying to avoid talking to you?”  
“No.”

Silence ensued for a moment and then a long sigh passed through Shouyou's lips.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered again, his hand coming up so he could rub his temples.

“Fine. I'm listening. What is it?”

Tobio bristled. This was such a foreign emotion to him. He knew the feeling of being intimidated. There had been the elders, some of his instructors, and well, there was the king who all held such power in the way they spoke, in the way they carried themselves. Who radiated authority and demanded obedience and ignited fear in those who crossed them.

He was used to that.

But suddenly Tobio found himself flinching in the presence of a human. An unarmed one at that, if one didn't count his body's heat.

Tobio was pretty sure that Shouyou would be able to inflict heavy burns on him with his warmth.

“I upset you.”

And he had never cared, he hadn't even cared about upsetting the prince with his words. Probably as they both knew that there was no way out of the arrangement that had made Tobio his personal guard.

They wouldn't kick him out for speaking his mind to the prince as long as it wasn't in public. And he tended to be quiet at outings anyway, so that had never really been a problem.

He was playing with his own fingers, trying to explain why he felt this way, while Shouyou was still looking at him expectantly.

“Did you? Wow, what gave it away?”

“You didn't smile.” Tobio answered immediately, completely ignorant of the mocking tone.

“And when you don't smile, you are upset.”

Tobio looked up again, ready to face golden steel, but was met with shock instead.

Shouyou squirmed suddenly, pulling his own pillow over his head and letting out a weird high-pitched noise.

“Idiot! You can't say something like that when I am trying to be mad at you!”

Tobio blinked, not sure he had caught everything through the pillow. So he stretched, pulling it from the humans face and met little resistance.

“Trying?” he asked “You are not upset?”

Why were humans so complicated?

“I am! I am upset. But I want to be mad and angry because you looked at me like I am not worth your time, and your growl was like GRAH, and then you screamed at me like I was the one being stupid, when all I did was trying to HELP YOU!”

Tobio jerked away again.

“I know.” he muttered.

“Then why did you do it if you KNOW apparently!” Shouyou asked, shifting so he was sitting on his knees now, looking at Tobio intently.

“Don't give me bullshit now, Tobio.”

The hiss came automatically. He was being backed into a corner and he didn't like it one bit. He turned, but Shouyou's stare immediately shut him up.  
“No bullshit.” he repeated.

Tobio swallowed, knowing he was being played and pushed along by the human. He couldn't push back – firstly because he needed Shouyou's help and secondly because, the depths know why, he really didn't want Shouyou to be angry at him.

He should be grateful. Shouyou saved him. These things counted a great deal where he came from.

Tobio just didn't know how to show it.

“I hate feeling stupid.” he let out eventually, his heart pounding harshly against his ribcage as he admitted to this.

Shouyou regarded him still, his eyes assessing him. Probably to see if this was some 'bullshit'.

Whatever that was. Tobio had already learned that he didn't want to know where human profanities came from.

“You're not stupid though. There are things you don't know. You can ask, someone will tell you and that's that.”

Tobio grumbled at that. It wasn't that easy.

“It's a sign of weakness.” he muttered and Shouyou nudged him at that.

“Bullshit.” he said, shaking his head “Weakness is not being willing to learn and improve. So, is there something you want to ask about?”

His chest expanded with the next inhale, as if a weight had been lifted.

Shouyou's gaze wasn't piercing anymore, and though there was no smile on the man's lips he could tell that the human wasn't upset.

Tobio lay down on the futon, following the human who had snuggled back into his blanket, before asking away.

“You said Goyomai is bigger than... Nosappu?”

Shouyou hummed at that.

“Yeah, I guess. Not by much. We are all small towns up here. Nothing like the big cities.”

“Cities?” Tobio repeated, and Shouyou immediately understood.

“The big towns. With lots of people! Much more than here. Like Sapporo! Or Osaka. Or the capital! Tokyo!”

The capital of the dathaal?

Tobio felt himself shivering at the thought. If it was anything like his home, then that place surely had a large number of people living there.

“How many?” he asked simply and once again Shouyou seemed to understand him.

“Dunno. More than ten million, that's for sure. Wait.”

Ten... _million_?

Tobio couldn't even imagine how many people that should be. How large was that town? How could all these dathaal belong to one dwelling?

“Aha!” Shouyou exclaimed, the light from his _phone_ illuminating his face.

“Counting the whole area, Tokyo has a population of around 38 million!” he beamed and Tobio felt his stomach plummet to a very, very deep place.

That sounded like a lot.  
Like really a lot.

If the humans every realised that his kind wasn't just a myth but in fact living right there in the seas they would be able to overpower them easily.

And if they wanted to, they would find ways to hunt them, to bring them to extinction.

He swallowed, trying his hardest not to let the fear show on his face.

So many.

“That's... a lot...” was the only thing he managed to get passed his lips, his brain still trying to do the math. They were outnumbered. By the population of a city alone.

This was crazy.  
But Shouyou's happy voice pulled him back then, the human's eyes formed to crescents as he spoke animatedly “We should go there! To Tokyo! I have never been there either, I bet it will be all fuwaaah! And amazing and big! They have really tall buildings Tobio!”

He couldn't help but shrink a little at that. It didn't sound like something he wanted to do. Not because he was a mer and he would feel absolutely overwhelmed with all the dathaal around him but also because...

Crowds itself weren't really his thing. Neither as a human nor a mer. Crowds made him feel vulnerable, surrounded.

And in the capital of the humans that feeling would be overpowering.

Tobio averted his gaze, biting his lower lip as he tried to fight his flaring nerves.

“I like it here.” he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. With the mental image of such a huge town in mind, that hosted millions(!) of humans, the town here suddenly appeared small and cosy.  
The smells were getting familiar.

“Me too.” Shouyou replied, tilting his head.

“Don't look like that! We don't have to go. It was just an idea.” continued the human, looking up at the ceiling now.

“But you know... sometimes I wonder what else is there. Beyond my horizon? Beyond Nosappu?” he trailed off for a moment and Tobio watched him raise his arm, as if he was trying to reach for the stars above, hidden from view but there anyway.

“There are so many places and people... I wish I could see it all one day!”

Shouyou's hand tightened to a fist and it felt like the human was trying to hold on to a long-living dream.

Something he didn't want to let go of.

Tobio understood that.

He brought his arms below his body, rising to his elbows so he could look at Shouyou's profile.

“It's nice.” he whispered, “Travelling. Seeing things.”

A hum as memories flooded him, unbidden but not unwelcome. Of all the secret nooks he had found, the caves and streams and reefs.

When he had been out patrolling or hunting, there had been no boundaries.

The only thing that limited him was his own stamina and strength. It had been freedom, to Tobio.

“I bet! My heart beats all crazy just thinking about it! And meeting new people! That must be really exciting too, right?”  
No.

Tobio definitely wanted to say that he hated that, that seeing new places was enough for him. But then he looked up at the bed, Shouyou now turned to his side again and facing him, his eyes shining like newly sunken treasure.

So he hummed.

“I guess it's alright. I met you.”

Tobio could watch how Shouyou's eyes widened at that slightly, his shoulders tensing for a reason he couldn't understand. He was pretty sure that what he had said had been something nice.

Shouyou was the first human he wasn't afraid of deep down. He couldn't imagine the other hunting his kind for the heck of it, or for an old war that had once waged between their kinds. He couldn't really see him hurting anyone.

He felt a pang in his chest when he finished that thought though, a painful reminder that he had actually felt hurt- no, intimidated by the human not too long ago.  
But that had been because Shouyou was upset.

Tobio did worse things when he was upset.

Far worse. As he had proven not only to other mer, but also to Shouyou already.

Shouyou still looked at him with the same shocked expression and Tobio narrowed his eyes, frown in place.

“What-?” he asked, sharply, feeling once again as if he had missed something.

“Nothing!” the human piped up immediately, chuckling in a tone that wasn't familiar to Tobio. It sounded off.

“It's alright. That was just- nice.”

Tobio nodded, slowly lying down back on the futon.

Nice was good.

“Okay.” he breathed out. He felt better. Calmer.

“I guess I'm glad to. To have met you.”

Tobio froze, his muscles clenching. Something heavy settled in his stomach again and for a moment it felt like he had forgotten how to breathe once more. The feeling scared him, just like the warmth it brought with it.

“Even though I upset you?” he choked out.

The chuckle that came next sounded lighter and Tobio noted immediately that it was one he was familiar with.

“Yes. But I am not upset anymore now.”

His body slowly relaxed, his lungs filling with oxygen again.

The warmth stayed even though the blanket was pushed somewhere far away from him.

“Okay.”

≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**

Kageyama is SO hard to write! Urgh! He makes me rewrite every little thing he is supposed to say until it feels 'right' - to me at least!  
  


HAPPY SEASON 4 COUR 2!!  
I hope everyone enjoyed the first episode! ; ___ ; It felt good to see them again and my beta had the wonderful idea (bless her soul) that I could update this fic to celebrate the new cour :3 I hope you enjoyed the new chapter too! It's slightly longer than the ones before and shows new sides of both Hinata and Kageyama!

Comments and kudos are always welcome! Thanks for joining me on this (surf) ride! ^^

Take care

Mervousmer


	4. Wave 3

***~3rd Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

“Hey, Tobio.”

  
“Mh?”  
He looked up from his dinner, brow creased and his fingers clutching the fork awkwardly. It wasn't easy eating like this, but the fork worked ten times better than the wooden sticks Shouyou had handed him the first time.

He had been absolutely lost there.

 _Chopsticks_.

It hadn't made sense to Tobio, considering you could not chop anything with them at all. The fork was okay, you could poke the pieces of food and get it into your mouth. His hand was still trying to get used to holding the piece of metal, but it worked, so he wasn't complaining.

He'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Shouyou smiled, tilting his head as he regarded him. Tobio felt his body warm up under the human's stare, placing the fork down and averting his eyes.  
He would never get used to being stared at like that.

Even if Shouyou wasn't judging him.

It just... made him feel weird.

“There's a place I want to show you. You'll come, right?”  
Tobio shifted his gaze back to the other, confusion showing on his face.  
  
“What place?” he asked, “Where Oikawa might be?”

The human opposite to him visibly deflated, a pout forming on his lips as he mumbled something that he didn't catch, before stuffing his face with more rice.  
  
“Huh? Don't mutter like that if you want me to go!” he grumbled, fork pointed right at Shouyou's face who visible blanched at that.  
  
“Oi! Don't do that! Don't point your dirty fork at people, Tobio! That's gross!”

“You're gross! I can see into your mouth! Close it!” Tobio fired back, glad that the other at least didn't spit the rice at him.  
He put down the fork anyway and waited for the sulking human to chew and swallow the glob in his mouth.

“It's not a place Oikawa would be... but... I thought maybe we can go there anyway? It's not that late yet...”

Tobio considered the idea for a moment. Then his eyes landed back on Shouyou, who had almost finished eating. He had been out for quite a long time today. Apparently there had been a lot of work for him.  
  
Not for the first time he wondered what the human did in the time he left the house, but it hadn't really mattered.  
  
When Shouyou was not here, it meant he was stuck and that he couldn't go looking for the prince, ergo, it sucked.

And the human usually looked exhausted when he came home, fiery red hair sticking to his forehead when he made it to the house. But that wasn't really that surprising, was it? Tobio knew that Shouyou was strong so they had probably given him an important duty that used his strength well.

Everything else would be a waste.

He hummed, taking in the human's eyes that shone with excitement and hope. He really wanted to show it to Tobio apparently - whatever that place was.  
Perhaps a place to eat.  
  
Tobio liked those. Shouyou sometimes traded coins and paper to get him a snack.

“Okay.” he said eventually, “I'll go.”

“Whaaa~~! Tobio you are the best!”

Tobio narrowed his eyes at that but the human had already jumped to his feet, gathering all the plates albeit Tobio's loud protests and dragged him upstairs.  
  
“We need to change into something warm! It's too cold outside now! I'll get you something!”

“Ah...”

But Shouyou had already pushed him inside their room and darted off to his mother's bedroom. Tobio doubted that the clothes he wore belonged to Nami, but he wasn't going to ask.  
  
They didn't annoy him when moving and they seemed to do their job of covering his body well enough as no other humans had commented on his attire or lack thereof.  
  
He seemed to blend in just fine.

After Shouyou had come running back - throwing heaps of clothing at him - had they changed and readied themselves to go out. Tobio couldn't remember if he had ever seen the human as excited as right now, when he was towing him to that special place. He was practically glowing, vibrating with expectation and anticipation, his muscles tense and grip firm.  
  
The fingers around his wrist felt hot as they dug into his flesh, but Tobio was getting used to the heat that the human emitted every moment of the day.  
And night.  
  
Shouyou was always warm and Tobio told him as much, but the human hadn't been bothered by that at all. Perhaps it was normal for the dathaal.

They went up a small hill and Shouyou only let go of him when they arrived in front of some sort of gate, that the other pushed open, leading the way inside the area. For a brief moment, Tobio wondered why there was a barrier to shield this place when anyone could simply open the gate.  
  
But the thought immediately wandered into the _box_. The 'don't ask' box. It wasn't like it really mattered – once he had finally gotten his hands on that stupid prince he would drag him back into the depths and he wouldn't need to think about these things anymore.

Easy as that.

“Tada!” Shouyou's loud and chirpy voice got him out of his musings “We're here! Look To-”

Suddenly Shouyou stopped. Stopped walking, stopped talking.

Tobio quickly caught up to the human, wanting to see what made him pause. He followed Shouyou's line of sight, seeing chaos.

This was clearly a spot with some kind of meaning. There were white lines on the floor and a weird kind of net was tightened between two poles.  
But the place was dirty. Tobio blinked.  
  
What... Why did Shouoyu want to show him this? There was garbage everywhere. Torn bags, all kinds of containers like those he had seen in the Hinata's kitchen and endless heaps of rotten food.  
  
Inadvertently, he inhaled and nearly gagged as his nose took in the mixed scent of mould and foulness.

He turned away and buried his nose in his own shoulder, breathing shallowly and cleaning the rotten odour out of his nose. His own sweat smelled ten times better than... whatever this was.  
  
When Tobio turned back, Shouyou had still not moved. He was still rooted to the spot, gaze forward, back rigid. He could see the strain of his muscles from where he stood behind him, his arms flexing when he clenched and unclenched his hands.

Tobio immediately understood that something was terribly wrong. The other had never been like that – completely quiet and tense. Not even when he had recoiled from him after Tobio had hurt him, burying his claws into his flesh.  
  
It had been different. Shouyou had been surprised and scared and Tobio had been able to pick that up.  
  
But now?

He didn't know _what_ was wrong. He just knew that it was.

Instinctively, he wanted to reach out and make the human turn around so he could see his face, assess the situation and act accordingly. But something held him back. Something told him that the other didn't want to be touched right now, didn't want to be addressed in any way.

His whole aura radiated that, even though Tobio still didn't know why.

Still, he kept his distance, kept his mouth shut and let the situation unfold. He didn't want to upset the other, not again.

But before he had the time to mull over past actions, Shouyou suddenly moved. Tobio hadn't noticed the small wooden hut that was next to the framed field, probably because his eyes had been busy with identifying all types of garbage and smells, but Shouyou went over, opening the door with a strong movement and vanished inside.

Tobio blinked at that, bewildered about if he should follow the other or wait. His feet moved closer to the housing, side-stepping rotten apples and opened cans. (He hated that he knew exactly what these were, but the dathaal had sunk enough garbage in the seas that every fingerling learned early on what 'trash' was.)

When he reached for the handle however, the door flung open and Shouyou re-emerged holding three large black bags in his hand.

  
  
They were made of the same material like some of the stuff littered around the place and Tobio wrecked his brain for the right word.

 _Plastic_. Right.

He would never forget the name of that again.

And then the other started to pick up the trash, stuffing every piece into one of the bags he pulled along, piece for piece.  
  
He still hadn't uttered a single word and now that Shouyou's face wasn't hidden from him anymore could Tobio see his eyes.  
  
The dark molten colour of a sunset, focused and fierce. The thin line of his lips as he pressed them close, brows furrowed.

Something was wrong.  
  
And apparently cleaning up this place would make it better.  
  
He stepped closer, letting out a grumble to catch the other's attention. Shouyou looked up at him, the same expression still on his face.  
  
“You're too slow. Hand that over.” he muttered, pointing at one of the plastic bags. Amber eyes followed the invisible line and then wandered back to him.  
  


And then, the tiniest smile.  
“I'll show you slow.”  
  
Tobio smirked and snatched the bag right out of the other's fingers, and the fight was on.  
“I'll pick up more than you.” he said, his eyes scanning his surroundings while he came up with a strategy for this.  
  
There was a bark of laughter and Shouyou's gaze pinned him with a challenge.  
  
“Let's see about that”, he said and held up his half-filled bag, “I'm ahead already.” Shouyou taunted, a playful glint in his eyes now.  
Tobio couldn't help but smirk right back.  
  
“You will.”

≈≈≈ ≈≈

In the end, they realised that neither of them had counted how many containers or pieces of paper they had picked up or even how many bags they had filled in total.  
  
“That was dumb” Shouyou chuckled, tying off the last bag and placing it next to the others.  
“What kind of challenge was that? We can't even compare!”

Tobio had simply grunted to this, his arms crossed in front of his chest.  
“You should have remembered to count, dumbass. But anyway, I collected more than you.”

“What!” the human protested and whipped around, eyes sparkling dangerously, “No way! You didn't even join until I filled half of the first bag! There is no way you could have picked more!”

“Did too.” Tobio simply replied, eyes narrowing.  
“I said no!”

“And I-”

“Well, well, did the loser get himself a new friend?”

Tobio's whole body tensed as the new voice interrupted their bickering, just when he was about to make a point and win. A snarl formed on his lips, but he paused when he heard Shouyou inhale sharply, a jolt going through his smaller frame.  
  
The three male dathaals that were the cause of the noise had their eyes on Shouyou and each of them wore a smirk.

Tobio quickly realised however, that only one of them was as confident as he made them believe with his smug expression. The others smelled sweaty, nervous.  
  
“What do you want Suzuki?” Shouyou pressed out, all tension and caution. Completely different from how he usually spoke to the people of this town. He was nothing like his usual loud self, radiating nothing but warm vibes to the other humans.  
(And Tobio was still at a loss – how should he deal with all this warmth?)

He had no idea who this Suzuki guy was, with his sleeked back hair and dark eyes that wandered over Shouyou's body with more attention than Tobio liked.  
  
He was clearly not a friend – seemed more like a foe – and he felt his nails dug into his palms before he even realised that he had curled his hands into fists.  
  
A huff left him, trying to see how the human would react, but Suzuki's attention didn't shift the slightest.  
  
“Nothing in particular.” said the guy eventually, shrugging his shoulders, “Just wanted to see if you had discovered our piece of art already.” his lips drew into a smirk and Tobio narrowed his eyes, hyper aware of everything the human did.  
  
He didn't like the confidence – didn't like how he clearly thought himself above Shouyou and him from how he carried himself.  
  
Was he some kind of noble? But Shouyou hadn't treated him with any kind of special formalities – more like he was a nuisance, so Tobio dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come.

“Piece of art?” Shouyou questioned, his eyebrows drawn up. At least he wasn't the only one bewildered by that – Tobio didn't know much about artwork at all, but he thought he might at least be aware of its existence when faced with it. Instead, they had only seen the trash.

Suzuki snickered and kicked one of the bags they had filled up and it fell over, but luckily Shouyou had tied it tight enough not to allow anything to spill back out.  
“Seems like you didn't appreciate it.”

It finally clicked. Tobio understood that it had been the three of them who had spoiled this place with the garbage.  
  
It made utterly no sense to him whatsoever, but he did know that dathaal actually had places for things they didn't need anymore. Nami had explained it to him, and though Tobio still couldn't wrap his head around which type of trash went where he knew not to drop it somewhere outside.

(Then again, he really shouldn't be surprised, right? Seeing as the human race liked to pollute the seas, it was only natural that they did the same to their own realm as well).

  
“No.” Shouyou said, eyes locked with Suzuki's who snorted.  
  
“Pity. We thought you might appreciate the effort seeing as trash should go with trash, you know?” he snickered and then shoved Shouyou backwards, throwing him off balance and sending him falling down, right onto the bags filled with garbage.  
“See. Makes a nice, fitting picture.”

All three of them cackled at that and Tobio watched in utter disbelief when Shouyou didn't say anything back.  
He just got back up to his feet, resigned and defeated.

What was happening?

“We're out of here guys. This is not fun. And you!” Suzuki addressed him with a jerky nod. “Think twice about whom you hang out with. All this guy thinks about is this stupid game. What a loser.”

Suzuki and the two other humans turned and left, laughter still ringing between them. Tobio stood frozen, eyes on their retreating backs before he turned to face Shouyou.  
Shouyou who didn't meet his gaze.

Shouyou who had not fought back and had let himself be pushed around.

(And Tobio had watched like the fool he was. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with Shouyou?)

His fingers tightened, his knuckles turning white as he wanted nothing more than to shake the human, throw him down and headbutt him or just – anything at all to make the other react.

To actually fight back. To jump into motion and run after them, pummelling them or screaming or – anything at all.

But Shouyou didn't look at him, evaded his stare each time he tried to adjust his head to finally catch a glimpse of golden treasure.  
Tobio didn't understand.

The other was strong, but he had yielded without a fight.

He had told him that the place was important to him, that he wanted him to see it and he hadn't even tried to defend it.

Why?

“Why didn't you do something?” he asked, his fists shaking with the rage he felt boiling in his stomach, eyes wide and blazing with anger. Tobio shook him, once, twice, his blood burning hotter with every heartbeat that Shouyou didn't react. That he let himself be manhandled by them, by him.

He was stronger than this.  
  
“Why didn't you fight back?” he pressed, voice a dark hiss as he leaned in closer, every exhale a harsh pant. He hadn't felt this riled up in a long time and something in him urged him on to take matters into his own hands, to let go of the human in front of him and run after Suzuki and his two crooks.  
  
Tobio would fight back. He didn't know how to back down. (Why had he not done something before? The moment they had pushed Shouyou down? It gnawed at him, but he couldn't find an answer and his mind was too busy being angry now to figure it out.)

And so he didn't go after them. His gaze was glued to the person he still held in an iron grip, unable to let go somehow.  
  
“For what?”, a whisper between them and Tobio perked up, not used to Shouyou's voice being anything but boisterous.  
And then finally, that golden stare was on him, hot and blazing like molten lava again.  
  
Tobio nearly recoiled at the intensity.  
“Don't you think I haven't tried?!” he cried out, angry, upset and at a loss.

It was _that_ look again.

The one from yesterday.  
But this time there was something else – this time there were tears caught up in bright lashes, threatening to fall, but Shouyou held them back and didn't let them.

His hands let go of the other and they dropped helplessly to his sides.  
And then he is the one being grabbed, Shouyou's smaller hands coming up to the collar of his shirt, yanking him down to eye level.

“I've tried, you idiot! But they won't stop! They cut the net or bring trash or whatever pops into their minds!”  
He was shaking, but it wasn't because of Tobio this time. The tiny frame trembled with the sobs that were ripped from his throat, eyes downcast again so Tobio couldn't see them.  
He fell silent, eyes trained on the human, trying to understand what was going on. He wanted to help.  
  
Tobio wanted to say the right thing. He didn't want Shouyou to be this miserable, not when he was so strong and when he was supposed to be bright and happy and excited.  
Now he seemed like a storm cloud.

Charged, but dark.

Nothing came to his mind. Tobio just stood there like the idiot he was, regarding the human who looked utterly defeated.  
(He hated it.)

Eventually, Shouyou let go, gaze down, grabbing for the trash bags and hauling them into a larger container next to the small house. The human rubbed the palms of his hands against his thighs, before straightening his back and looking up into the evening sky.  
  
Tobio followed his gaze, humming as he thought that the orange up there and the hue of Shouyou's hair looked the same.

When he came back, the mood seemed to have shifted. Shouyou wasn't back to his usual self, but he didn't seem angry anymore either. He had mellowed out, his mood still dimmed, but not sour.  
Tobio swallowed, willing himself to finally speak again.

“You said you like this place. Why?”

Until now Shouyou hadn't offered any kind of explanation prior to their arrival and then they had been busy with cleaning up and proving who was the most efficient. (Tobio still thought it was a clear win for him, but even he understood that bringing this up now wouldn't help with Shouyou's mood at all.)

The other faced him, blinking once, then twice until something like realisation settled on his face. His amber eyes widened and a tiny smile bloomed right there on his lips.  
“Wait here Tobio!”

“I wasn't planning to-” but the human had already rushed back into the house, leaving him behind without a second thought.  
“-leave, dumbass” he finished for no one but himself.

His arms came up to cross in front of his chest, eyebrows drawn up as he waited. It wasn't more than a few heartbeats at least before the door opened and Shouyou came back out again, holding something yellow and blue in his hands.

Something round, like a bubble of trapped air underwater.

Tobio tilted his head.

“Because of this!” Shouyou exclaimed, and Tobio wondered for a moment if someone has swapped dull-Shouyou for bright-Shouyou in that house because the grin on his face now was blinding.  
Was it because of the thing he was holding?  
  
The silence he offered seemed to be enough for the human to understand that he had - once again – no clue what he was on about and at that did a big sigh leave Shouyou's mouth.  
“You can't be serious, idiot-yama. You don't know what volleyball is?”

He didn't even hear whatever came after that insult. He just reached out and grabbed a handful of orange hair, his face contorted by a death glare.  
“Don't call me an idiot, dumbass!” he growled, ignoring Shouyou's flailing limbs as he tried to push his hand off, the blue-yellow bubble dropping to the ground without bursting.  
  
“Yah! Stop! I'm gonna go bald, dummy-yama! Yaah!”

He did stop – but not because the human asked him to. It was simply because curiosity finally got the better of him and he squatted down to pick up the sphere from the ground. It was kind of large and he had to hold it with two hands, but the surface felt smooth. Almost soft, but it was also firm when he tried to push against it.

“You call me dumbass all the time! And you have never seen a volleyball apparently, so that makes you an idiot. You probably don't know how to play.”

Play?

  
Tobio straightened, towering over the human and glowering down at him.  
He was not going to be an idiot. Whatever this thing was, it couldn't be too difficult if it was a game that humans played.  
  
He'd prove Shouyou wrong.  
  
“Then how do I play?” he growled and Shouyou just smirked up at him, before stealing the sphere right out of his hands with nimble fingers.

Fast.  
This guy...

“YOU don't play at all” he told Tobio, grinning.

“But, you just said-”  
“WE play. It's a team sport, Tobio! You can't play this alone.”

That made him grumble. That didn't make sense. Not the _team play thing_ – there were a lot of games like that for his kin as well. He knew how that worked. Or, was supposed to work.  
“If we play together, dumbass, then how am I supposed to beat you and prove I am better?” he grunted, arms crossing over his chest again to make a point.

Shouyou seemed to consider this but only shrugged his shoulders after a heartbeat or two.  
  
“Doesn't really matter I guess, you can't beat me anyway!” he grinned, holding up the sphere “I've played for years! My friends Izumi and Kouji join me sometimes now that Kenma moved to Sapporo... so how about you try to fill in on his position?”

Position?  
Tobio cocked his head, licking his lips. His interest was piqued – he would not lose to Shouyou. Never.  
“What is his position?”

Shouyou threw the sphere up into the air and when it came back down he lifted his arms up, as if welcoming the sphere home. But instead of catching it, there was nothing but a fleeting touch with the tips of his fingers as he sent it in a high arch over to him.  
  
Tobio watched, midnight eyes wide as they followed the path of the ball, catching it more instinctively than actively.

Shouyou showed him a thumbs up, eyes formed into crescents as he smiled widely.

“Setter!”

≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**  
Hey guys, thanks for reading again! I hope you had lots of fun and want to strangle those guys as much as me!

But Tobio is learning... how to deal with all of this haha! Slowly but surely...  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know :)  
(I'll have another update coming soon ! )

Take care!  
Mervous


	5. Wave 4

***~4th Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

He proved to be terrible.

Shouyou told him as much, letting out tiny giggles each time the _ball_ (not a sphere, a _ball_ ) dropped right through his waiting hands and onto his head instead.

Tobio had growled, his cheeks burning with humiliation, but he had asked for the next, and the next.

Until finally, he seemed to understand. His feet carried him right underneath the ball, his hands coming up and then his fingers guided the path and the ball came up in a beautiful arc, close to the net but not too much as Shouyou had instructed.

Tobio had watched, mouth agape and eyes open with awe, as the ball flew where he had wanted it to go. Shouyou did much the same, until suddenly, the human moved, eyes still trained on the ball that Tobio had _tossed_.

He came to a sudden stop, muscles straining as the energy in his body accumulated and then he jumped, high and higher still, his arm like a whip as it lashed out, hitting the ball dead-on and sending it over the net and into the opponent's field.

Shouyou landed on his feet, eyes wide in concentration and body heaving, breaths coming in short pants.

Tobio still heard the loud 'smack' ringing in his ears when Shouyou's palm had met the ball.

“I love it” Shouyou said suddenly, breathlessly.

“The view from the top. When I hit the ball and look over the net. It's like I can finally see past my own horizon.”

Tobio watched, silently, as Shouyou looked at the palms of his hands, flexing them. He followed suit, eyes dropping to his own hands, remembering how he had touched the ball – only for a fluttering heartbeat – and had sent it flying right there. It had felt like the ball had listened, had yielded to his command.

He had been in full control.

His hands formed fists and he tightened them, until the burning in his palms got too much and then some more.

It had felt great. He looked up, looking for the other with a tiniest wavering smile on his lips and the one Shouyou sent him back told him that he understood.

≈≈ ≈≈

They hadn't stopped after that one. Tobio had been pumped, now that he had had a first taste of a good set, and how he had enabled Shouyou to attack.

Only that they didn't have any opponents to move against, but that hadn't bothered him. He just wanted to try it again and again, until his muscles ached, his fingers felt numb and his lungs couldn't catch up anymore.

“O-one more...” he had heard Shouyou's voice, but neither of them moved a single muscle even though Tobio wanted to get into position.

It was like they were locked in place, only their chests working to get them the air they needed to function.

They had given up for the day, walking home exhausted but thrilled and happy.

Tobio's cheeks had hurt from all the grinning and they burned because as much as Shouyou teased him, he also praised him for catching up so quickly.

It felt good.

Tobio had never been praised for something that hadn't been his skill in fighting or hunting and even then, it had sounded more like jealousy than anything else to his ears.

But he believed Shouyou when he complimented him, when the other put his all into a jump to reach the ball he had set, no matter how off his angle was.

He had gotten better, after try seventy-eight.

And it felt like the incident with Suzuki had never happened, the hour they spent picking up trash forgotten. They just felt high from trying out something new and succeeding.

“Where the hell have the two of you been?”

They both nearly jerk out of their skins when they entered Shouyou's home, Nami's voice deep and demanding as she looked at them, tapping an impatient finger against her upper arm.

“Uhm...” Shouyou started, stealing a glance at the clock on the wall and swallowing loudly. It was already past their usual time, yet they hadn't even considered stopping, even after the sun had set and they had to play only with the artificial light provided by the lamps mounted to the house next to the field.

Lamps were still a strange concept to him, but Tobio had decided not to ask.

“We... played? I taught Tobio how to play volleyball!” Shouyou started, hoping that it would appease his mother enough.

“At first he was more like 'meeh and bruh' but then I kept throwing the ball at him and then suddenly he made this 'tap'! And then 'wush'! The ball came right to me and I hit it!”

Tobio nodded along, hoping that it was enough.

Nami's eyes found his then for a moment and she sighed, shaking her head.

“Kids these days...” she muttered underneath her breath “You stink, so shower. Now.”

Shouyou saluted.

“Aye, aye, mother!” he yapped and ran up the stairs to the bathroom.

“You too after he is done. Your clothes are all sticky.”

“Okay,” Tobio replied, “Can I have some milk while I wait?”

Nami shrugged, nodding.

“By all means. You know what to do.”

Tobio thanked her and found his way to the kitchen. His throat was parched and he felt completely out of breath, but the thought of some cold milk made it slightly better already. He took a glass of the shelf and when he turned to open the fridge he had to hold onto the kitchen counter, black spots suddenly dancing in front of his eyes.

He felt cold.

The glass came crushing down with a loud _CLANK_ and it exploded into tiny shards as Tobio went down, hands clutching his head.

What-?

He tried to breathe, but it felt like someone was pressing down on his windpipe, letting no oxygen through.

Why did he feel so cold?

Why in the deepest depths couldn't he breathe?

From his periphery vision he sensed a presence approaching, a flicker of a shadow, but he couldn't focus enough to make out who it was. His hands grabbed his own throat, wanting to grab whatever was choking him and rip it away. He only found his own skin, the panic spiking.

And then there was a splash and his nose and mouth were filled with water for a single heartbeat as he was doused.

It was cold – freezing - and Tobio shook in an attempt to get his now wet bangs out of his face. To no avail. His fringe stuck to his forehead, pearls of water running down his cheeks, his nose.

There was air in his lungs.

Tobio blinked, perturbed, his eyes darting around to make sense of what had happened and settling on Nami's figure. She was clutching an empty bucket, water drippling from the edge.

Had she downed that on him?

“You're really dumb for someone of your kind. You've managed to survive this long among us, but you're not invincible.” she shook her head, disbelieving. Tobio had no idea what she was talking about, but as always his silence gave it away.

She let out a sigh (he had gotten that reaction from her a little too often) and she placed the bucket down to help him up.

“Don't worry about the glass, I'll clean it up. You should sit down. I don't think your body can take this form much longer. You're straining it.”

“I'm fine!” he protested immediately, taking a step closer in an attempt to show her. He could pick up the mess he had caused himself – he had been collecting trash the whole day, and well, that one had been his fault.

But the moment he wanted to reach down, his hand already outstretched, he felt his legs go all wobbly again and he barely caught himself in time.

Nami just stared at him, eyebrow drawn up.

Tobio scowled but gave in.

“I'll sit down...”

She nodded.

“I'll prepare a bath for you once Shouyou is back. You should... change. Take a rest and recharge a little.”

Taking a seat on one of the chairs, Tobio couldn't help but grumble. His human body had seemed fine to him and he hadn't really felt the need to change or anything. He was used to his legs by now and it wasn't like his actual lower body part was any help on land. His eyes on his lap, he balled his hands into fists, annoyed with himself.

“Okay.”

Perhaps he had been overdoing it a little today. It must have been the volleyball he had played with Shouyou, tearing out the last of his strength until they had been close to collapsing.

“Okay.” he breathed out, relaxing his hands.

The sounds that filled the kitchen told him that Shouyou's mother was taking care of the shattered glass now, picking up the shards and using the small broom to clean up.

Tobio exhaled, lifting his head.

Now he had even broken something.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked, still perplexed. She had no reason to. Nami even knew his secret but had made no move to either tell Shouyou or any other human who might come after him.

Was that because he had promised not to endanger her son? But why was she permitting him to be here in the first place?

The woman straightened her back, icy blue eyes regarding him with the same coolness as always. Yet, he didn't feel threatened by her anymore.

She wasn't as warm as Shouyou, but Tobio... had started to feel comfortable in her presence for a few days now.

“I've told you, Tobio”, it sent a shiver down his spine. She never called him by his personal name, “I haven't seen Shouyou this excited or happy in a long time. So as long as you keep him happy, I'm going to offer my support in return. Cold, by the way?”

He tilted his head, his thoughts torn between her explanation and her question.

“The bath.” she followed up and he nodded.

“The coldest you can make it.”

“Freezing then.”

“Yes.”

**≈≈ ≈≈**

It wasn't freezing.

Tobio had expected it to be, if he was honest. Nami didn't seem like the type of person to make many jokes, but the water he found himself in was just, _cold_. Maybe a little chilly. But nothing like the depths he came from.

But he wouldn't complain – not to Nami. Shouyou might have been a different matter. It wasn't like he was scared of Nami (of course he wasn't!), but Shouyou never seemed affected by his complaints – by his opinions. He clashed with him if he disagreed, but there were no ill feelings like he was used to from home. Shouyou pushed back when prodded and instead of fearing that he might see a familiar look of contempt and dislike, clashing with the bright human was... fun.

What in the deepest depths was he doing?

He wasn't here to have fun - wasn't here to indulge in human games and play volleyball with Shouyou, or watch human films with him on that black box thing that had scared the living shit out of him the first time it had been switched on.

He wasn't supposed to become curious about different kinds of human food and spices he had never known because the sea simply didn't offer them.

Tobio wasn't supposed to be interested in Hinata Shouyou's mundane human life, but here he was, thoughts a tangled mess and trying to make sense of what Nami had meant with ' I haven't seen Shouyou this excited or happy in a long time'.

Because Shouyou was always happy (when he wasn't upset) and bright and full of warmth that seeped into Tobio's skin when they were too close.

So what did that mean?

He couldn't really picture the human being unhappy. Or his sour mood to be anything but short-lived. But then Nami wouldn't have pointed it out – Tobio at least got that much, even when interactions between two parties usually confused him at best.

A low growl left his mouth as he couldn't find an answer to his questions. He didn't know Shouyou that well – it had been roughly half a moon since he had been saved by the human. That was nothing.

“Stupid human” Tobio growled and grabbed for the sponge and started to furiously scrub his tail, taking care of his indigo scales first before carefully running the sponge over his delicate fin. It felt good – so good to be back in his own skin, the feeling of his fin so familiar as he brushed his fingertips over it. He missed the sea – missed swimming and letting the currents get him wherever the sea gods intended.

But he couldn't go back yet.

Perhaps that was why his body had collapsed – back in the kitchen. Nami had been right (again), because as soon as he had submerged himself in the cold water and shifted his lower abdomen back to its original form he had felt better.

It was like his muscles had been cramping and now they finally unclenched, relaxing.

He leaned back against the tub, stretching his tail as far as he could in the basin and closed his eyes for a moment, slow and deep breaths through his nose.

It was still weird when he thought too much about it - how he could breathe now without his gills. But as long as he wasn't underwater (completely, that is) he couldn't transform that part of him back.

His hand rubbed over the side of his neck, where he knew they were supposed to be and hummed as he kneaded the muscles there instead.

Up here he was all human – just like Shouyou and his -

Tobio squawked, a terrible high-pitched sound in his throat, his dark blue eyes widening in shock as he dispelled the mental image of Shouyou's gill-less neck.

His arms lost purchase on the tub, and with the smooth scales of his lower body not offering any form of traction, his tail folded easily as his weight pushed it against the edge of the tub. Water greeted him, pulling his head under as he floundered, trying to grab the rim again so he could pull himself up.

No gills – no air underwater.

Tobio emerged with a loud gasp, his heart hammering against his ribcage, panic urging it on, the knuckles of his fingers turning white as he tightened his grip, scared of letting go again.

“Fuck,” he hissed, chest heaving and face red from that unplanned dive. His tail hurt from the sudden compression and he groaned when he slowly shifted again, stretching it out.

“Fuck.”

He was useless.

He had panicked – because of _water_.

His realm, the place where he felt _safe_. Just because he had imagined what Shouyou might look like if he had gills there, fluttering slightly as they worked.

“Fuck this.” he breathed out, using one hand to get his fringe out of his eyes. This had been utterly embarrassing and he was glad that there had been no one around to see it.

Tobio shook his head, clearing his thoughts in order to find his focus again. His tail twitched, but the change was smoother now. It split (and it still hurt), but he could endure it, the image of his legs clear in his mind.

When he opened his eyes, he could wriggle his toes again and it didn't feel as foreign as the first time he had tried it.

But touching them still felt weird, so he hurried through the washing procedure, sweeping the sponge over groin, legs and feet as fast as possible.

It had to do.

He really needed to focus on his mission again. The reason why he was here in the first place and put up with Shouyou, who kept on showing him weird human things and who was definitely too warm.

He smelled warm, too. Tobio still couldn't explain that – there were a lot of different scents underwater, the most prominent that always got to their kin being blood and sulphur.

But these were pungent smells – they burned in his nose and usually translated directly to “ _danger_ ”.

Shouyou's scent was different. It was sort of light – fleeting. He could only smell it when he was really close to the human. But it really smelled warm. A little like the air around the fireplace that the humans kept here in their living room.

Tobio clicked his tongue because racking his brain over this was stupid. It didn't help him with his mission one bit.

Oikawa.

He should be thinking about Oikawa and where to find him. (Perhaps his clear dislike of the prince was the reason why Tobio was so easily distracted – but he knew that even though the king hadn't stated a deadline, hadn't said he needed to be back in a moon or two, that there was an unspoken limit to this. That he wanted his son, the crown prince, back as soon as possible, and though Tobio was out of the king's reach here in the human town, his family was not.)

The thought nagged on him as he finished in the bathroom and was going back to the kitchen for dinner.

Shouyou was already there, his hair still a little wet from the shower before and for once not sticking in every direction.

Tobio watched him for a moment as he set the plates, making sure to place a fork at the place where Tobio usually sat. He should tell him that he needed to find his 'brother' soon. That his family worried or something like that and that looking in that other town the human had brought up might be a good idea.

He had no idea how to get there, so he would need Shouyou's help again, as well as to find his way around and talk to people.

Tobio had tried that before, but that one time when Shouyou had made him take the first step, the woman he had approached had ran away from him, crying something like 'please don't kill me!'. He still wondered why she had assumed he was trying to take her life – but Shouyou had been laughing his non-existing tail off for what felt like an eternity, tears in his eyes and all, as the laughter shook his smaller frame.

Tobio remembered growling at Shouyou, who had eventually patted his back, before using his thumbs to smooth out Tobio's apparently 'frowny' forehead.

After that, Shouyou had declared that he would be the one to approach and communicate with people and Tobio should just wait or contribute when he had something to say - 'without looking like that, dummy, you're scary!'

If he was so scary then why did Shouyou not run away then? When he had hurt him he had looked intimidated, fear clearly written over his face but that had been because of Tobio lashing out, not due to the look on his face.

Shouyou was weird.

Maybe the weirdest human of all of them.

But he was a good human. If those existed – and the elders would beg to differ on that matter – then Hinata Shouyou was one of them. Tobio could say that much.

Golden eyes landed on him and he felt a _zing_ through his whole body as Shouyou's face split into a grin.

“Just in time for dinner. I bet you smelled it, huh? Mum made curry!”

At that, Tobio's eyes began to shine, his mouth opening slightly. He sniffed and yes – how could he have missed that smell? - that was definitely curry bubbling away in the big pot.

With his own wobbly smile on his lips, he sat down on his seat and waited for Shouyou to place a bowl of rice and curry in front of him.

This was definitely one of the things he was going to miss, along with milk. There was no way he would get a chance to eat this at his own home.

“I bet I can eat more than you though, so don't even try to beat me!” Shouyou challenged him, his own bowl filled to the brim and then some. (He even had an egg yolk on top, and he made a mental note to ask for one too next time)

Tobio met his gaze, eyes narrowed as he accepted.

“You'll never beat me.”

Perhaps, he might miss _this_ too.

As it turned out, they both managed to eat exactly two bowls of curry and rice before they had to give up. They glared at each other across the table, all narrowed eyebrows paired with threatful grumbling, but they both knew they couldn't force another single spoon down their stomachs, no matter how good the curry was. (And Tobio had to admit that this was definitely his favourite human food that he had come to know since he had arrived in this house.)

Shouyou doesn't have sharp teeth like him, but the snarl he showed as he glared at him could probably intimidate many of his kind. Tobio held his stare though, unimpressed. He was taller than the human, so it made sense that he had eaten more – there had definitely been more rice in his bowl when they had gotten seconds to make up for the extra egg the other had had.

“Would you two stop? With the way you glare at each other one could think you're enemies and not friends, boys.”

Both their heads whipped around, and Nami let out her trademark sigh when she watched them bicker. Not that they were – Tobio had been about to make his point and win this silly competition with the human - but in the presence of Shouyou's mother he rather kept his mouth shut. She would definitely side with her son and if there was one human he never wanted to have as his enemy, then it was Hinata Nami.

“Okay.” he said and put the spoon in the bowl “It was good. The food. The curry.” he muttered then, scrunching up his nose when his tongue wouldn't form the words right away, forced him to take breaks in between. It was getting easier – speaking Dathaalian, but sometimes his brain still refused to cooperate.

“I'm glad.” she replied then and offered a tiny smile “Shouyou.” she said, turning to her son and Tobio used the time to gather the dishes and place them in the sink as he was taught.

Humans needed to clean their things, but luckily it was usually Nami who did that. Apparently Shouyou was prone to breaking said things.

He couldn't even judge him there, as Tobio would probably be much the same.

“Mum.” Shouyou mimicked and tilted his head, “what is it?”

“Do you remember Iwaizumi-kun? Iwaizumi Hajime. I think he was your senior in school?”

Shouyou nodded, a puzzled expression on his face. Tobio had no idea who that human was, but he guessed from Shouyou's reaction that he wasn't one of those who had bullied him at the volleyball court before.

Which was good, Tobio mused. The other humans that lived in that town were nice to Shouyou.

And even to him, a stranger.

But his curiosity was piqued now. He also didn't recognise the name from the usual list of friends that Shouoyu brought up sometimes.

Tobio didn't try to remember them – he didn't know them, and he didn't need to know them – but they had come up often enough for him to memorise at least those closest to his human.

_Shouyou_.

To Shouyou.

Tobio let out a grunt. He had eaten too much. He needed some milk to calm down.

“Yeah. Sure do, mum. I see him sometimes when I take the boat out to the islands. He mans the lighthouse.”

Tobio hummed, plopping down in his chair again, interrupting the human without second thought “Lighthouse? What's that? All the houses have light...”

Which was one of those ' _box_ ' things. Take the thought about how this particular human invention worked and place it in the big black box that was labelled with 'don't ask'.

Close the lid. Done.

Shouyou chuckled – he usually did so when Tobio asked him a question, but he always explained. For all the questions he had, Shouyou tried to find an answer even though he could tell that the human made some of them up just to appear sophisticated or whatever. That was something that mer and dathaal still shared apparently after hundreds of years of evolving along different paths.

They hated to admit it when they didn't know something, rather spinning interesting stories than saying the truth.

Tobio had never understood.

“It's the biiig building at the cliff! Remember? You can even see if from the court. During the night there's a biiig lamp in there that gets turned around, all whoo-whoo, so that the light can guide ships to the harbour.”

Tobio clicked his tongue at that.

“Makes sense.”

It kind of reminded him of lantern fish, who used their glowing antenna to lure in prey. It was kind of the same method – just that the man in the lighthouse probably didn't want to eat the sailors onboard.

“Of course it does, dummy.” Shouyou shook his head before turning back to his mother.

“So, what about him? Is he alright?”

“Yeah. Don't worry. Marine called me, you know from work, and she said she has seen Iwaizumi-kun recently with a stranger. Brunet, tall. You know?”

Tobio brought the glass down with a _bang_ as it met the table's surface.

His eyes were wide as he stared at Nami, his nostrils flaring at the first hint during this half-moon.

“Oikawa,” he breathed out.

Brown hair wasn't exactly uncommon with humans as he had learned, but strangers were, if the reaction he had gotten by the town's folk was anything to go by. They had all been surprised to see a new face hanging out with Shouyou.

So the chances of another stranger being here that was not the prince...seemed slim. He could do the math.

Nami nodded.

“My thoughts. So, how about you go see him tomorrow? Maybe he can tell you where your... brother is, Tobio.”

The chair gave way with a creaking noise as he stood, hands braced on the table, face contorted. Tobio felt nauseous – and he couldn't explain why, but the swirl of emotions in his stomach made him want to retch.

He felt relieved – there was a clue! He only needed to get a hold of Oikawa and drag him back home. But he was also angry because it had taken him so long, and he really shouldn't be here, shouldn't enjoy being here and playing human games and bossing around a dathaal that never gave in but always pushed back.

Tobio had to swallow the bile in his throat before he could talk.

“I need to go now.” he said, straightening his back. If Shouyou was right – and he knew he was – then he would find the lighthouse on his own without problems.

“But you won't,” came Nami's sharp voice, her frame immediately blocking the door, “it's dark. Iwaizumi-kun has to work. I know you want to find him, but now is not a good time. It would be rude. And if you are rude, Tobio, people don't want to help you.”, she said, slowly and clearly, voice calm but flat.

He didn't need to be a genius to read the threat in her words.

Tobio bared his teeth for a moment, his instincts telling him to challenge her and get his way, but that was exactly what she had pointed out.

He averted his eyes with a 'tsk', shoulders shaking with anger because he found himself overpowered once again.

What was wrong with these two bright haired humans?

And then he suddenly felt warmth spreading – slowly seeping in, first the back of his, then up his arm. He blinked, looking down at his hand that was balled into a fist and found it covered by another.

Shouyou had reached out, his palm so warm – hot even – and squeezing in what seemed to be reassurance.

“What...” he mumbled and the squeeze came again. Tobio hated how the warmth even spread to his cheeks, heating his face.

“We go tomorrow, okay? After breakfast, I usually see Iwaizumi-san around that time anyway. I don't have work till the afternoon, so it'll work out! And we can go play some volleyball after talking to him!”

Tobio grumbled again, but felt his muscles unclenching, his shoulders relaxing again. Shouyou's hand stayed there, his thumb running circles over his pulse point.

For a moment Tobio wondered if Shouyou genuinely wanted him to feel better or if he just wanted to convince him to play with him again.

It didn't really matter anyway, he found, because he felt overpowered yet again. This time by the perpetual warmth that Shouyou radiated and apparently caused him to grow weaker or something.

“Okay.” he said eventually, unconsciously turning his hand over so his palm was facing up. Not a heartbeat later, Shouyou's fingers had slipped between his.

Tobio's cheeks _burned_.

Always so warm, this human. And how did he manage to affect Tobio this much with it? It couldn't be natural. Other humans didn't have that effect on him, not even if he let them close. Though, he guessed that Nami didn't count – her presence resembled the northern currents more than anything, a complete opposite from her son.

“Okay! Toss to me lots, yeah? You have to practice so I can jump all the way up and hit your set like BAM!”

Tobio remembered the sound of Shouyou's palm smacking the ball when he had set it for the first time.

It had sounded more like THUMP, not BAM, but perhaps human ears couldn't pick up the difference.

It had been a good feeling. And though he didn't know if there would be an 'after we have talked to Iwaizumi-san', because as soon as he got his hands on Oikawa he would drag him down under, he found himself nodding, his heart thumping loudly when he thought of the thrill the first experiences of volleyball had given him.

“Yeah.”

If Nami glared at him this time, he couldn't feel the daggers being thrown.

≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**

_Here we go again! How did you like it? Tobio is absolutely NOT smitten, isn't he? And of course, he had to like volleyball even in this AU. What is kagehina without volleyball, really?_

_Let me know your thoughts! And take care,_

_Mervous_


	6. Wave 5

***~5th Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

That night Shouyou told him about his grandmother. She had been beautiful, eyes blue like his mother's, but apparently darker, more like Tobio's, and she had been an amazing diver, apparently.

Tobio learned that there were humans back at her time who dove for pearls for a living, selling them like that or made into accessory. That was something he could relate to, seeing as pearls were a popular and common type of jewellery with his kin as well.

When he commented though that he didn't see Shouyou wear any pearls, the dathaal told him that people didn't do that anymore, that the number of pearl-producing mussels had dwindled over the years until his grandmother had stopped diving for them altogether.

“She had stopped already when I was born, but I remember that it was her who taught me how to swim! She was amazing! She could hold her breath for a looong time!” Shouyou had chuckled animatedly, strong body curled up in his blanket.

Tobio had turned to him, the moonlight enough to make him see the humans face, smile broad as ever.

“Or well, I thought so at least when I was small. I guess it probably wasn't that long, but it felt like ages! Like, 'I was worried she drowned'-ages! But she always came back up!” he hummed before his lips suddenly formed a pout and he continued with a sulk, “or she pulled me under by my leg. That was my least favourite part!”

It was during that night that Tobio began to understand something about Shouyou - about his family.

It finally dawned on him why Nami had known exactly what he was, the moment she had laid eyes on him.

It explained why she hadn't been surprised, why she hadn't sold him to one of those crazy humans who would perform experiments on him like the elders had always warned them about.

Why she had known how to help him today.

Because they had had a mer in their family.

When the realisation hit him Tobio let out a small croak, his chest constricting as everything pieced itself together. It finally made sense – and he could tell that Shouyou had no idea about his heritage.

“Are you okay? Tobio?” came Shouyou's soft voice from the bed (why was Tobio stuck with the futon now?) and he turned to him again, nodding. He didn't trust his voice right now, not when he was still trying to sort out his thoughts.

Midnight blue eyes landed on a plain neck that was exposed, craned to the side, so Shouyou could look at him from up there.

He was-

Tobio nearly keened as he was suddenly hit with a wave of longing that washed over him, pulled him along and under. His eyes were fixed on that patch of skin, the very place where mer had their gills, a sensitive and important part of their kind. There was nothing but smooth skin however, but it left him undeterred as his eyes stayed fixed on the same spot, his head leaning in just a little bit in an attempt to be closer.

It would probably be warm. Shouyou was warm all over, but the dip where neck met shoulder definitely looked _extra warm_ to Tobio.

His arms pushed him up slightly as he closed in, the yearning he felt in his stomach not subsiding and urging him on. Until suddenly, there was a hand buried in his locks, pulling gently and his forehead made contact with Shouyou's collarbones.

“You're not. Don't lie, idiot!” Shouyou chided him in a playful tone and though Tobio felt the need to retaliate and throw that right back at him, he stayed silent, stayed buried with his face against the human's neck in an uncomfortable position, but the knot in his stomach finally came apart, letting him breathe again.

He stayed there, just breathing, until his arms began to shake from the strain.

“Sorry” he mumbled.

He didn't even know for what he was sorry for. Shouyou didn't seem to mind their close proximity and Tobio couldn't even explain what had happened.

Something like this had never occurred before – he had been looking at Shouyou, had thought about finally going home and then the revelation about the other's heritage had thrown his thoughts into turmoil until all he wanted was to rest.

Perhaps it had been that. His thoughts had been too loud and he just wanted to drown them out, burn them away.

Shouyou's warmth had proven efficient there.

“It's alright. You're probably just nervous about finding your brother. I'm sure we'll finally get some answers from Iwaizumi-san, so don't worry!”

The hand was still there, tangled in his black hair and Shouyou's fingers ran over his scalp in slow gentle strokes.

It felt good.

Tobio swallowed a noise.

“Do you... uhm...”

Tobio grunted to indicate that he was listening, but it took Shouyou a few heartbeats to continue, his voice strangely unsteady.

“Do you maybe.. I mean...” he felt the other's voice vibrate in his ribcage and Tobio scrunched up his nose at the weird feeling of vibrating skin against his forehead before withdrawing slightly.

He instantly missed the warmth.

It hadn't been too much.

It had been nice.

“Doyouwanttosleepinthebedwithme?”

Tobio blinked, dumbfounded. He was absolutely sure that a word of this length had never come up before and he had no idea what that had meant.

He squinted his eyes, looking at the human who had let out that long word with no meaning and found Shouyou's face red, eyes averted and looking anywhere but at Tobio.

He blinked again.

“What?” he said.

Couldn't the other use normal words? Or was that something that had no synonym and that he needed to learn the meaning of?

The reply to that was a loud huff and then he nearly jumped back a few feet as Shouyou suddenly sat up in his bed, blanket thrown off haphazardly.

“I asked! If you wanted to sleep up here with me!”

Another blink. Another heartbeat of silence after the human's loud exclamation. The gears in Tobio's head began to turn and then oh- _Oh_.

The heat was suddenly back in his cheeks, burning like they might actually catch fire.

“D-dumbass, why didn't you say so the first t-time?”

He had. Tobio had just not been able to decipher it. Not that he would admit that.

“I-I did! You're apparently deaf!”

“That doesn't even make sense, idiot, how would I understand you then!” he shot back instantly, baffled at the sheer idea. But then again Shouyou had lots of strange ideas.

“How would I know! Maybe you are really good at reading lips!”

“Well, I'm not! I don't even know half the words you use most of the time!”

Which infuriated him. Greatly.

“Not my fault you're from some no name island! Learn how to talk properly!”

“I am! I am listening to you!”

“Well then answer my question! Do you want to?”

“Huh?!”

“Sleep! In the bed! W-with me!”

Silence fell between them, their eyes locked on each other after their heated debate, which had been meaningless in a way, but important to them. Neither would back down in front of the other. Not even when it was a pointless argument.

“W-why would I do that? You're too warm!” he stuttered out, his stomach queasy at the thought of being so close to Shouyou.

Like really close. With his whole body.

“Well you're weird! But I am still offering seeing as you seemed really nervous and stuff!”

“I'm not nervous...” he growled and looked away, worrying his lower lip between his teeth.

Fine, maybe he was... agitated.

Unsettled, because he didn't know how Oikawa would react to being tracked and found. And that by him of all mer.

He wouldn't be happy, that much was for sure.

Tobio let go of his lip, licking over it to soothe it and turned back to Shouyou, cheeks still red and easily recognisable in the dim light, eyes shining with determination.

Then his gaze landed on his neck again and he had to forcefully yank his head up an inch so he would stop looking.

What was wrong with him?

What did it matter? It was just a neck. A gill-less neck, too. Shouyou's scent was nice for a dathaal, or part-mer or whatever, but was that enough to agree to this? Tobio had never...

“Okay.” he breathed out.

Apparently his mouth had decided that it was just that.

Enough a reason to agree, to bypass his brain and make the decision on its own. His body seemed to agree, because not even a heartbeat later he found himself crawling up to join Shouyou on the bed, who shimmied over to give him space.

Only when the other wanted to grab for the blanket did his brain finally start working again and he grunted out a 'no blanket' to stop Shouyou from covering them both.

“Well, Mister _I'm so cool I sleep while freezing my ass of_ f, I need a blanket. So, you'll suffer for this one night.”

Before he could process who this mister was and why he could lose his rear to the cold was the blanket thrown over them and a back pressed against his front.

Warm.

Tobio's breath hitched in his throat as it seeped into him, spreading faster than wildfire but settling to a low burn eventually.

“See. Not so bad.” Shouyou whispered between them, his hand reaching behind himself and grabbing Tobio's, pulling it around his smaller frame so it rested against Shouyou's stomach.

“Now sleep.”

Tobio's hand flexed against the flat plane of the human's stomach, feeling smooth skin and hard muscle without intending to through the thin fabric of the shirt the other was wearing. Shouyou didn't say another word, eyes seemingly closed and all he could do was bury his face in the pillow as best as possible, telling his eyes to focus on the tuft of hair in front of him and not the skin below.

Something told him that it would be a long night for him, his body simmering with the warmth Shouyou shared without realising and this new feeling that settled heavy in his stomach with no intention of leaving again soon.

≈≈ ≈≈

The next morning, he found himself tangled up in limbs. Shouyou's legs where somewhere between his own, and they must have shifted quite a lot during the night because when his eyes finally fluttered open, his head was nestled perfectly on Shouyou's shoulder, his nose pressed against the skin of his neck.

He growled at his body that had apparently decided to move on its own and the only reprieve was that the blanket was missing as well.

At least one thing had gone according to plan.

He hummed, nose filling with the scent of glowing embers and fleeting sweetness as he inhaled. His skin hadn't frayed off – apparently Shouyou's warmth wasn't enough to hurt him, or this human body at least.

He wasn't sure if that would be the same when he was all mer and not human anymore.

Not that they would find out.

He peeled himself off Shouyou, grimacing as he suddenly felt cold at the places where their bodies had been pressed together.

Strange. He certainly didn't like the feeling that spread over his body, his skin getting bumpy and hairs rising.

Was that a normal human reaction to being cold?

He hoped so.

There was no pain, so he just shrugged his shoulders and made his way downstairs to see if there was breakfast.

He felt good – well rested and ready to face Oikawa and beat him into a pulp if he had to.

He wouldn't put up with his bratty behaviour. Tobio would make it clear, in a completely calm voice, that they had to go back, that his father worried and that they had to return to their duties.

It wasn't that he missed guard duty – but what else was there?

Though the thought bummed him, he pushed it away and eventually went back upstairs to push Shouyou out of bed after he had had his fill of milk with honey.

Using the _warming box_ was easy by now and he had Nami's expressed permission to drink as much milk as he wanted. (He couldn't remember the correct term for the life of him. Mini? Micro? Wave. It made no sense at all as there was no water in the box, but well, it was one of those 'box things' indeed.)

The human had protested, but Tobio understood now how he could kick him into action. He crossed his arms over his chest, eyes narrowed as he watched him flail around on the floor for a moment.

“How are we going to get better if we don't practice?”

That was all he needed to have Shouyou jump to his feet, get dressed, fed and ready in record time.

Tobio couldn't help but smirk, chest swelling with pride as he had seen right through him, could pull on his strings for once and make him bend the way Tobio wanted.

Seeing as that didn't happen too often, it felt really good to have this kind of power for a moment.

The air was crisp that morning as they went out, but Tobio welcomed it with a deep inhale. Eyes immediately searching for the tower that was their goal for today.

Shouyou led the way as always, greeting the town's people with his smile and towing him along by his hand.

Tobio felt as if something had changed since yesterday, but he couldn't pin-point what. All he knew was that usually the human's hand had been wrapped around his wrist when pulling him along, and now the feeling of Shouyou's digits intertwining with his own felt familiar.

“Iwaizumi-san usually gets some shopping done on Thursday mornings before he goes to sleep. So we might be lucky to catch him if we wait by the lighthouse.” Shouyou explained as they started to hike up the hill where said lighthouse overlooked the cliffs.

“Hurry Slow-bio! We can't miss him!”

“It wasn't me who stayed in bed!” he shouted back, Shouyou's hand barely holding on now as he headed uphill.

“Maybe if you would have tried to wake me up sooner instead of drinking tons of milk we wouldn't have to hurry now!”

This guy.

Tobio growled deep in his throat.

Why did he always come up with some silly reply!

“You looked too comfortable. I was being nice!”

Shouyou spun around, their hands separating and Tobio nearly crashed into the human, who had suddenly stopped.

“I was. Comfortable.

Tobio's breath hitched at that and once again he had to avert his eyes, the feeling of his face heating up too uncomfortable.

“Me too. I guess.”

“Okay then. G-good that we agree.”

Tobio chanced a glance up at the human, treasure eyes trained on him again. How did he manage to look so determined while his cheeks burned pink?

Did it not bother him?

Perhaps it didn't make a difference to him, as he was always warm anyway?

“Y-yeah.”

It had been comfortable. Tobio didn't say things he didn't mean. It had been kind of surprising too as he had really doubted that being so close to Shouyou's warm body would feel anything but annoying, but even with the blanket (which he had gotten rid-off eventually) he had been okay.

It had been warm, but he had been able to bear it.

Maybe it had even been... nice.

Like when he had nuzzled against Shouyou's neck. It had been soothing, calming his nerves a little. It was a thing that mer did – so it wasn't too surprising. It had just been years for Tobio since he had felt the need to do that. And well, the last time he had done it was when he had been elected as personal guard for Oikawa and his mother had talked to him for three hours, trying to build him back up from where he had crumbled along with his dreams for the future.

“Yeah.” Shouyou repeated and then stood up on his tiptoes, looking over Tobio's shoulder.

“Mh?”

He turned around, curious to see what had caught the human's attention.

It turned out to be another human. Tall – but not taller than Tobio – short black hair and eyes that spoke of fatigue and an iron will. Tobio watched him, gaze wandering over his figure, seizing him up, trying to read if the person approaching them was friend or foe. With those sharp eyes and broad shoulders he could very well be the latter.

Did he look like that when he wanted to speak to people?

When Shouyou said that he looked scary, ready to mob someone or something like that?

Lips pressed into a thin line, he waited for the human to cover the distance between them, his eyes glancing over at Shouyou to assess his reaction to the newcomer. Not that he could rely on the other's instincts or anything, the human greeted literally anyone with a big smile and too many loud words.

It was kind of strange then to see Shouyou with such a blank face, eyes focused straight ahead, arms kept loosely at his sides.

But there was no tension in the smaller frame next to him, so Tobio stayed relaxed as well.

Friendly then.

Shouyou's body language had been completely different when Suzuki and his minions had surrounded them.

“Hinata-kun.” a deep roll, clear but exhausted.

“Iwaizumi-san.”

Shouyou bowed, tugging at Tobio's arm after a heartbeat to make him follow suit. He tilted his head, confused as to why this was necessary but when the human hissed at him under his breath, Tobio reluctantly lowered his head as well in greeting.

“What's with that? And who is your friend? I haven't seen you around...”

“Kageyama.” Tobio replied, giving his nest name as was customary for humans as well. (He had learned. In some things their kin wasn't so different apparently and personal names felt more … intimate.)

Shouyou straightened next to him, turning his head to look at him with a puzzled gaze.

“What?” he grunted.

He had been polite! Was that wrong out of a sudden? Did humans enjoy changing the rules to make people slip up and humiliate themselves?

Tobio growled, irritated that he had apparently messed up, but then Shouyou shook his head and offered a small smile to calm him down.

“N-nothing! And anyway!” he turned around, facing Iwaizumi-san again, “Sorry! We just-!” Shouyou stopped mid-sentence, leaning left and right to look past the tall human.

“What are you doing dumbass?” Tobio asked, jabbing him in the ribs. Why was he acting strange suddenly? There was no one else approaching, so why was he flailing around like that?

“Ask about Oikawa!” he demanded then, trying to yell as quietly as possible in hopes that Iwaizumi-san might not hear them.

“I will!” Shouyou shot back, a failed attempt of a whisper, “I was just checking if he wasn't with him or something!”

Tobio narrowed his eyes in disbelief at that, “Then try to be more subtle! That looked stupid!”

“Oi! Then how about you ask him, huh? If you don't need my help!” Shouyou growled, pushing up to his tiptoes and into Tobio's face as best as he could, amber eyes aflame with annoyance

“Th-that! Was not what I said, are you even listening?!”

“Oi. You two realise that I am right here? I can hear you.”

They both fell silent, Tobio's hand fisted in the collar of Shouyou's shirt and the human pushing against his grip, lips pulled into a snarl.

They let go.

Iwaizumi-san regarded them with drawn up eyebrows, arms crossed over his chest as he watched them untangle themselves from each other. But then he let out a long sigh and shook his head.

“Not sure I can help you Hinata-kun. Kageyama-san. I don't know anyone named Oikawa.”

“Oh.”

Shouyou's gaze fell and he sucked in his lower lip, worrying it between his teeth while Tobio just... stared at the human in front of them.

That couldn't be.

He was the lead – the clue.

His way to finally get a hold of their stupid prince.

Without thinking, he stepped closer, right into Iwaizumi-san's personal space and grabbed him, fingers digging into shoulders and pulling him closer.

“Whoa- what!”

Tobio was quick and his nose was damn good – needed to be good as a warrior and hunter – and even in this form he could tell apart scents easily enough.

If there was one scent he knew by heart – one that wasn't his parents' or his sisters or Shouyou's by now – then it was the overly sweet scent of their crown prince that prickled his nose in the most annoying way.

And it was right there – all over the human.

Tobio's blue eyes shot open as his mouth opened in a snarl, fangs forming at the realisation that Iwazumi-san had lied to him.

He would know that scent anywhere – it was his perpetual companion when he was on duty – and that meant that the other knew the prince and had been close to him.

And by how the man reeked of Oikawa, they had been pretty damn close.

“Don't shit with me!” he growled, both hands bunched up in the man's shirt now, fists shaking with the sheer force he was using, knuckles turning white.

“The heck is wrong with you! Shouyou, what the hell!”

“Tobio!”

No.

He was sick of this.

Tobio was supposed to do his job, was supposed to bring back the prince and make sure his family was save. He wasn't supposed to be here, wasn't supposed to like human food and wasn't supposed to like spending time in Shouyou's presence.

He wasn't supposed to grow accustomed to warmth.

And if this guy would just say what he knew, would tell him where Oikawa was, they could end all of this before it got more complicated.

Before he would start to think about missing volleyball. Tobio hadn't even played that often yet!

Still – it had been fun. Shouyou had made it fun, even if it wasn't that much – setting and spiking – and even if they were short on players to actually play a game.

Tobio _wanted_ to play a real game.

His nostrils flared when he exhaled, his shoulders shaking with anger and then his arm was suddenly yanked back and Shouyou clutched onto it, using both of his hands to cage Tobio's own.

“He's lying.” Tobio reasoned through gritted teeth, wanting Shouyou to know why he was reacting like that.

The human was lying, and he knew it! He was completely caught up in his own tunnel vision, nose picking up the traces of Oikawa's scent and eyes scanning the man's face to find any hints of the lie written on it.

“Stop! You idiot, let him go!”

He wouldn't! Not before he had answers!

Tobio tried to wrench his arm free of the other's grip again, felt the warm skin of the human against his own as he twisted his hand and stopped abruptly when he heard a low hiss.

Then his brain caught up with what he was doing.

Tobio felt his sharpened nails dig into the warm skin of Shouyou's palm, no doubt the reason why the human had hissed out and let go immediately, his eyes wide in shock and despair. When his muscles went lax, Shouyou let him go and Tobio jerked his hand away, fist against his own chest.

Iwaizumi-san had taken two steps back as well, but he barely noticed that.

His eyes were fixed on Shouyou who shook his hand a few times, clenching and unclenching his fingers.

“S-sorry!” he stuttered, a pang in his chest while his gaze wandered to the human's palm that he had squeezed. No blood. Just dents from where he had dug his nails in.

Shouyou looked back up, glowering at him, “Don't apologise to me! Apologise to Iwaizumi-san! You can't just attack people, Tobio, are you stupid!?”

“What?! No-!”

The glare intensified and Tobio tsk'ed as he turned around. Shouyou could be glad that he actually felt sorry for hurting him again. Otherwise he wouldn't give in this easily.

But he also remembered what Nami had said – about people unwilling to help when you were rude to them.

He didn't see how what he had done could qualify as rude, seeing as the man had clearly lied to him – they both knew it – but he wasn't getting out of this.

Not with Shouyou looking at him like that.

A huff left him as he dropped his head.

“I apologise...” he trailed off and then swallowed both, pride and dignity.

“If... if you come across Oikawa, let him know that I-” he stopped himself, rethinking his words, “that Kageyama is looking for him.”

He was joined by Shouyou a moment later, who bowed his head as well. Tobio didn't understand why the other was doing it, why he was helping him even now and to that extent, but he knew what the feeling in his chest was for once.

He felt grateful.

Because he knew Shouyou didn't need to do this, but still did.

“Please Iwaizumi-san! He's not from here and reaaaallly needs to talk to him, so could you please let him know? If you see him?” he said, voice loud and clear even when he was facing the path beneath their feet.

“You two are really something...” came the baffled reply and when Tobio straightened again, he watched Iwaizumi rub the back of his neck, expression conflicted.

“Don't touch me like that again, got it? I don't care if you're Shouyou-kun's friend or whatever, that was freaking rude! But yeah. I'll tell him. I mean. If I see this Oikawa-guy, or something.”

Tobio grunted, scrunching up his nose at the accusation, but didn't bite back. Instead, he held Iwaizumi-san's gaze for another heartbeat, letting him know that he knew.

That he might fool others, but definitely not him.

His nose didn't lie, and Oikawa's scent was too prominent and unique to be mistaken. Besides, mer smelled slightly different than humans, he had come to realise. After venturing through this town full of dathaal, he could make out the difference, a missing layer of scent of some sorts. Perhaps it was the unique addition of the sea that was lacking with them.

“Thank you, Iwaizumi-san!” Shouyou exclaimed, head shooting up and smile bright as ever, “We appreciate that!”

An elbow to his rip.

“We do.” he consented begrudgingly, glaring sideways at Shouyou for jabbing him like that again. His elbow was damn pointy and his ribs weren't made of rocks, thank you very much.

Besides, the human was strong and he never held back.

“Yeah. Just... stay out of people's personal spaces, okay?”

Tobio hmpf'ed.

Humans made no sense. They both knew that Tobio was aware that Iwaizumi-san had at least been in contact with Oikawa and he had pointed that out and demanded answers and yet, he had to hold back now and pretend like he wasn't sure about what he was smelling.

Weird.

At least he knew where this man lived, so he could keep an eye on him when Shouyou was at work or something. He'd find his way around.

Shouyou had waved good-bye then and Iwaizumi-san had trekked up the hill to the lighthouse, but not without looking over his shoulder a few times as if he was anxious that Tobio might follow and attack him again.

Which was something he might have done, if a certain human wasn't with him.

He growled.

“What was that about, huh? You seemed completely out of it... you looked really scary Kageyama!”

Tobio whirled around, squinting at the other.

“Why are you calling me like that?” he asked, forehead pulled into a frown. It irritated him.

“What?” Shouyou inquired, eyebrows lifted, “scary? Because you looked scary! Like that one time two weeks ago-”

“No.” Tobio interrupted him, taking a step closer, leaning in to get a closer look at Shouyou. Had he upset him?

He didn't look upset. There were no angry lines on his forehead and his eyes didn't gleam with the intent to cut.

Then what...

Shouyou's cheeks were slightly red, and he radiated more heat than usual, but otherwise he seemed completely fine. Eyes a little wide, but he did that when he asked questions.

What was it?

“My _sihl_.” he said, tongue forming the familiar word easily, “Why did you call me Kageyama?”

If Shouyou moved from personal name to nest name then he had to have messed up somewhere. Badly.

Shouyou had been upset with him before but even then he hadn't done that.

Nausea rose in him and his eyes darted around frantically, trying to find out what he had done, flicking from the human's face to his hand.

“It's okay. It didn't hurt that much” came Shouyou's voice suddenly and he lifted said hand, palm up to show it to him, “See? Not hurt.”

Tobio hummed as he took in the slightly reddened skin. But it looked fine otherwise, and there was no malice in the human's voice.

So he had to trust in those words. Carefully, scared that he might make Shouyou flinch again, he lifted his own arm, taking the human's hand in his own to rub firm circles over the skin of his palm.

Warm.

Smooth.

Soft.

“I-I... I used it because I realised that I've always called you by your first name and just... it suddenly... occurred to me that it might be weird? I mean... I've only known you for a little over two weeks and I-” he broke off, words a mess and Tobio had trouble keeping up “And maybe I should call you Kageyama-”

“Don't do it again.” Tobio said with a flat voice.

His eyebrows were narrowed, staring at Shouyou as if he could simply scare his nesting name off his lips or something.

It irritated him to hear it.

“W-what?” a croak.

“Don't call me Kageyama again. It sounds weird when you say it. I don't like it.”

“It sounds weird?” Shouyou prodded, gaze puzzled, “What's that supposed to mean, dummy, it's your name!”

“And I don't like it when you call me like that!” Tobio growled, “So don't do it, dumbass! I don't call you Hinata either!”

“Fine!” the human threw his hands up in defeat, taking a step back so Tobio couldn't read his eyes anymore.

“Good.”

He breathed out, his chest expanding again as the pressure lifted. He hadn't even realised he had tensed up. But the way his nesting name had sounded on Shouyou's lips had made his stomach coil, his lips twitching in irritation especially when he was told that the human hadn't done it to show his dislike, but because he was stupid.

Stupid human.

Stupid Shouyou.

“Tobio?”

Said male hummed, feeling instantly pleased when his personal name came out of the other's mouth again.

“Remember when you first introduced yourself to me? You wanted to do that thing... That weird custom you and your island people do.”

Heat rose from his chest up to the tips of his ears.

His mouth fell open and he averted his gaze, the embarrassment burning on his face in shades of red and pink.

“W-what about it? It's not weird! You're the weird one!”

Shouyou chuckled and stepped closer again, poking Tobio in the stomach with his pointer finger.

“Nope. Pretty sure you're the weird one. But that's okay! We're all different and stuff. Anyway!” he broke off, grinning now and Tobio wondered what the human was planning.

He could see a certain glint in those treasure eyes.

“I'm prepared now!”

Tobio blinked, bewildered.

(When did this human not puzzle him, though?)

“Prepared for what?”

“For _it_!” Shouyou said, rolling his eyes.

“Don't play dumb now, dummy. Do it. I wanna do it right this time!”

Do it.

The familiar greeting?

“You'll mess up. You have no idea what to do.”

“Oi! Maybe if you would teach me, I wouldn't mess up! So you're the one at fault if I suck!”

“What! Come here you dumbass!”

“Wha-” Shouyou yelped when he reached out to grab him, but instead of flinching away or ducking, he just went utterly still. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his lips were twitching slightly, but he didn't try to get away.

Tobio watched him like that for a moment before placing his hands on the human's temples. This was weird.

It came natural to their kin of course, being taught to do this from when they were little. When they were nothing but fingerlings they often did it to practice or simply to have fun.

Even Tobio had been eager, trying it out and practising with those around him and his mother who praised him for being so polite.

So he knew what he was doing.

Only that this was Shouyou and the other had no clue what to do so he needed to- “Oi,”

Tobio blinked and glanced down, finding amber eyes fixed on him through red lashes.

“What am I supposed to do now? If you don't tell me it's gonna be horrible!” Shouyou pressed, his lips forming a pout and Tobio grunted, this close to just head-butting him and be done with it.

“Shut up! There's no talking.”

“Hah? I thought this was a greeting!”

“It is! You're supposed to say your name, dumbass!”

“So there is talking!”

“Yes, but-” he broke off mid-sentence in favour of a low growl, “Just come here! You said you were prepared!”

“I am! But you're not telling me what to do!”

“Just shut up and close your eyes!” Tobio shot back, exasperation evident in his voice. Why could the human not shut up for once and do as he was told?

“Okay.”

Okay?

Tobio's head jerked at that. That was definitely not the answer he had expected, but Shouyou had fallen quiet again, eyes shut and forehead smooth.

That...

Tobio swallowed and slowly leant in, his nose picking up Shouyou's sweet and warm scent again.

“Put your hands on my face. Like me.”

At first he thought that the human hadn't heard him, but then the other lifted his arms, bringing them around Tobio's own until the human's warm palms framed his face.

It wasn't exactly perfect, they were a little too low, more on his cheeks than on his temples, but he didn't say anything.

Couldn't say anything as his eyes were transfixed on the face of the dathaal, utterly concentrated but at peace.

“Like this?”

Tobio could only hum his approval.

It baffled him, how it could feel so different with someone he hadn't grown up with. With someone like Shouyou.

A human. (Almost)

Leaning in, he brought their foreheads together now, a soft press that lasted for three heartbeats before his mouth finally opened again, “Tobio.” his voice was barely more than a whisper as he pushed the word out of his throat, his heart skipping a beat at the close proximity and the warmth that began to spread again from where Shouyou's hands touched him.

It felt oddly intimate like this – back when they were young this had been more of a game than anything else and his mother really didn't count.

When growing up, this hadn't really been an issue. Tobio hadn't been close enough with anyone to even think about offering his personal name and Oikawa and him might be considered close – but he would rather bite of his own tongue than accept the prince's first name like this.

“Shouyou.”

Tobio snapped back into reality when the human's voice carried over to his ears, confident and a little amused.

This guy probably thought he was stupid or something, so why did he even go along with this?

Tobio pulled back, the greeting complete.

It didn't even necessarily need to take this long, but somehow it had felt right this way.

Perhaps because Shouyou had no idea what he was supposed to do and rushing through it would have probably only ended in a disaster.

Treasure eyes blinked back open and they let go of each other, Shouyou's face a weird shade of red. It looked stupid with his tuft of orange hair.

“That was it?” he asked and Tobio nodded.

“Yeah. What did you expect? It's just a greeting and an invitation to use each other's personal name.”

Which their kin didn't use that often.

But that was nothing that he needed to tell the dathaal.

“Ah... so you do that all the time? With people you meet?”

Something sounded off there in Shouyou's voice, but Tobio couldn't pick it out with the way the human's eyes were averted, facing away from him.

“N-no. Dumbass. Why would I offer my personal name to just anyone?”

Shouyou shrugged his shoulders but looked back at him at least.

“Dunno. You're weird. You offered me your first name on the day I pulled your sorry ass from the sea.”

“I was perfectly fine!”

“And not breathing. Sure, Tobio. Keep lying to yourself!” Shouyou exclaimed, the smile back on his face.

Had he missed something?

“Come on. There's nothing we can do now! You said you wanted to practice tossing!”

Tobio huffed and rolled his eyes. Shouyou's mood could easily change from one heartbeat to the next and often enough he completely missed the cue.

But whatever – Shouyou was already skipping downhill again, shouting something.

“Hurry! I want to jump!”

Tobio felt his face split, a grin growing on his features. Then his legs kicked into motion and he was running.

He would get there first.

  
  


≈≈ ≈≈

**A/N:**

Dadadadun... A big revelation! Who has seen it coming? Haha!! Well, Tobio managed to put two and two together here.  
But he still has a lot to learn, right? Not just in terms of volleyball -coughscoughs-

He is trying... I promise!! And he has Shouyou to kick his butt whenever he missteps, as you can see lol

Let me know if you enjoyed the chapter!

Thanks again for reading!

Take care,

Mervous


	7. Wave 6

***~6th Wave~***

≈≈ ≈≈

In the week that followed, Tobio went to see Iwaizumi-san every day when Shouyou was doing his duty in town.

And when the other wasn't busy with work or writing and talking to his friends using the small (loud) box, they practised volleyball together, alternating between their usual tossing and spiking routine and some fundamental work like receiving and serving.

When the human had brought it up Tobio had been absolutely convinced that anything else besides setting the ball and matching it to Shouyou would be boring, but he found himself wholly invested soon enough.

The rules were a different matter though, and he had to admit that without seeing the game unfold with the necessary players around, his brain couldn't really picture it from Shouyou's ecstatic descriptions.

So, the human started showing him what he called 'videos' of games from his favourite teams. They were like those _movies on Shouyou's TV_ , pictures that moved and all, but Tobio soon understood the difference.

Movies told you a story, like in fairy tales or legends, while videos could be about anything. Once, when he returned from stretching his tail in a cold bath, he found Shouyou watching a video about a lobster eating the colour out of a carrot slice.

Tobio could understand why the lobster did it – carrots were indeed delicious, especially when covered in curry sauce, but why Shouyou found this particular video worth watching was beyond him.

When asked, the human's face had grown red before he had fumbled with the small device that he used to select between videos to simply play another volleyball video.

A week after Shouyou introduced him to the game, three things became evident to him.

First, Tobio had absorbed every rule of volleyball there was.

He understood the position and the meaning of the players, of tactics, had memorised movements of the setters – which he always tried out the next time he got to play with Shouyou, repeating the same thing over and over again until he got the hang of it – and had come to accept that he loved it.

He loved to watch the plays and he loved to try out the things he saw and Shouyou never complained. The human went along, jumping again and again when he tossed him the ball with different techniques, and when he missed he only looked bummed for a single heartbeat before asking Tobio for another try.

They tried out things for Shouyou's position as a spiker too. And Tobio loved that too. It was kind of ironic, how he came to be fond of a human game so quickly, how he wanted to memorise every little thing there was and keep playing, when he knew that once this mission was over he would never get to do it again.

That all the practice he did, the time he invested, was futile in the end cause he wouldn't be able to use it again.

But it left him undeterred.

Second, Iwaizumi-san was as stubborn as a hammerhead shark. Which was, mildly speaking, annoying. Tobio went to see him every day when Shouyou was on duty, but the human kept on insisting that he had never talked to, met or even seen someone named Oikawa.

And even if he glowered at him and told him that he knew he was lying, the man simply passed him and left him like that, minding his own business.

Tobio stayed around sometimes, watching the lighthouse, searching the surrounding area for any clues that only he might be able to pick up, but there was nothing.

Which brought him to point three.

Point three was something really simple, but not less bothersome.

He was terribly bored when Shouyou was at work.

It got to the extent that he even turned to Nami for entertainment in the beginning. He asked her tons of questions, the 'box' being filled with lots of things that he knew not to ask about further. But he also learned a lot of interesting things about humans and he could tell that Nami was genuinely trying to help him, even if her gaze still managed to send a shiver down his back sometimes.

But he realised what it was – she was protective of her kin. She wanted Shouyou save and Tobio could understand that for a human – or half-mer in her case – a full mer of the warrior class might not sound safe at all.

They managed though. She even went to town with him one day to buy him a few sets of clothing that fit him better than those from her cupboard.

Which was also one of the box things. Tobio had quickly understood that he should not ask about these clothes, seeing how Shouyou's gaze had grown dark the moment he had mentioned them. So, into the box the question went, lid shut tight once again.

When Nami asked, he even offered some information about their kin and himself. It wasn't like she was an outsider anyway. She knew quite a lot of things already anyway from her mother, a full blooded mer who had come to live on land. Nami didn't know why she had left, but she remembered the look of yearning on her mother's face every time they passed the beach and when they talked about their mer blood. That, he could understand on a very deep level. He missed the sea as well and he hadn't even been here for a full moon yet. It was coming up soon though by now.

Tobio explained that where he came from, he was a warrior and a hunter who had been 'promoted' to guard duty in the palace two years ago. He told her that he hated it and for the first time since he had been appointed, the reply to that wasn't something along the lines of 'you should be proud!'.

Nami had patted his shoulder, squeezing it slightly and told him that sometimes there were things out of our control. There were things we had to endure, because people above us made the rules and though we could rebel and push our boundaries, some rules and conventions were not to be broken for the greater good of society.

And then, almost like an afterthought she had added that he should enjoy his free time even more then and do what made him happy and what had his heart racing.

The understanding he received had him shaking, had him unable to reply or utter his thanks. He didn't even know how to.

He didn't know a lot of things, but neither Shouyou nor Nami minded. They didn't mind his sharp tongue when he pointed out things either. Shouyou clashed with him in good combat and Nami usually just rolled her eyes or made it clear very quickly that when it came down to it, she was the one in the right.

And Tobio submitted – mostly with a scowl on his face – but he didn't fight it.

He was just a guest anyway.

When that topic between them got exhausted, Tobio asked about Shouyou. Not much, but there was something that really bugged him. Something he had never asked the human, even though it came up almost every day.

“Why does he only talk to his friends through the box?” he had asked and Nami had looked at him, puzzled at first until she understood.

“The phone?”

Tobio nodded. Obviously, he had meant _the phone_.

“His friends all moved away for university or a job in the bigger cities. A university is a place that teaches you complicated things, for complicated jobs that needs lots of brain power usually.” Nami said, explaining the unknown word immediately without prompting.

Tobio blinked, another question forming immediately, “Then why is Shouyou still here?”

There was a long sigh and Nami averted her eyes from him for the first time since he had gotten to know her.

She didn't say anything for a long time and Tobio was ready to put the question into the 'box', his lips pulling into a thin line because he really, really wanted an answer to that question.

Why would Shouyou stay here, when the friends he _called_ and _texted_ every day were not here? He understood that humans could travel fast on land, so his mother wouldn't be out of the world, right?

But then Nami spoke.

“Let's just say Shouyou is not the type for studying. It's probably hard to explain to you, but this much you probably understand. Shouyou is bad with keeping still. His brain can't focus well. It's-” she stopped, took a breather and shrugged her shoulders, “sorry. I don't think it's something I can explain to you.”

Because of what you are. You don't understand. You can't, because you are different and you don't understand our language that well.

Nami didn't have to say these things, but they were still there. Tobio could read them in the way she kneaded her thumb into the palm of her other hand, how she kept on avoiding his questioning gaze.

They were crystal clear to him, like tiny bubbles in the water floating to the surface, fragile but _there_.

And Tobio wanted to argue. He wanted to make her explain it to him better because he felt that burning need to _understand_. He needed to understand why Shouyou was stranded here, when he apparently wanted to be somewhere else.

Wanted to go beyond his own horizons and boundaries but was bound to this place.

He wanted to point out that Shouyou could focus, he always concentrated really hard when they watched videos of volleyball games, or played, or when he tried to explain things to him.

But Nami just looked at him with a small smile.

“Whatever you want to say, don't. It's different. He wants to help you and he wants to play volleyball. These cases are different. I never said understanding Shouyou is easy.”

Tobio nodded, feeling like he had lost an important fight.

“Okay.”

It annoyed him.

The realisation that Shouyou actually wanted to break free, but apparently couldn't because he wasn't meant to attend these teaching places he had already forgotten the name of.

That was stupid, but Nami once again reminded him of what she had said earlier.

Sometimes, there were things out of our control, out of our reach. The true art was to make do with what you had.

That day, Tobio learned that Shouyou's duty was to be something called an 'errand boy'. He did all sorts of things for people when he could, but mostly he helped in the local shop and delivered goods to the people around town and on the islands close to their shore. When Tobio asked if Shouyou swam there, Nami had laughed so loud he had been completely taken aback, blinking a few times at the unknown expression on her face.

Apparently his question had been stupid, because humans couldn't swim such long distances (they weren't long, Tobio had passed the islands on his way to the beach, but, whatever) they used boats.

“A boat?”

“Yep.”

Tobio knew what boats were. He also knew that they ranged in size from terribly gigantic, to really small. Almost all of their kin had been close to the surface before, close enough to see these man-made means of transportation. Besides, the elders warned even the young ones already to stay clear of them as they could cause serious damage when you came in contact with them.

Several of their older warriors had scars and lacking limbs to emphasise the truth of these tales as well.

“If you're careful enough you could follow him. The boat he uses isn't the fastest, but it does the job. Just, you know, don't let him see you.”

Tobio huffed at that.

He wasn't stupid.

“And while you're at it, bring dinner.” Nami said, grinning.

“Dinner?” he repeated, brows knitted together.

“Yep. I've been thinking about it now that I have an extra mouth to feed. And you've told me you're a hunter, haven't you? Getting a hold of some fish shouldn't be hard for you, hm?”

Tobio raised his eyebrows in perfect arcs at that.

“You want me to catch some fish?”

Nami nodded, chin resting on her palm now that she had propped on the table, her smirk a challenge. And if there was one thing that could bait Tobio into doing anything and everything then it was the insinuation of him being unable to accomplish something.

“I'll get you more than you can carry.” he growled, getting up from the chair and downing the rest of his milk.

Nami chuckled, an echo of the one that always rose from Shouyou, “Three should be enough. Make them big though. You know Shouyou's appetite.”

Tobio just smirked back before he left the house, his whole body aflame with the urge to prove himself, legs tingling with the anticipation of shifting and swimming again.

≈≈ ≈≈

Nami looked pleased with him when he started going out and bringing back dinner. After that first day, she started to point out which fish she would like, showing him pictures as the names of the fish differed in his and Dahtaalian quite a lot. But like that, he could easily recognise which she meant.

Tobio took pride in the fact that both humans – part humans, was there a label for that? - loved the food he brought back. Not that Shouyou knew that it was him getting them dinner, but the grin alone when he dug in was enough.

Nami usually packed some food for the neighbours as well as Tobio might sometimes go overboard and bring back more than was needed.

But, well, he just wanted to prove that he could and it wasn't like he came back carrying ten large tunas or something. (Which he was perfectly capable of doing, if anyone was interested. It would just be a waste. He didn't kill for fun like some others of his kind. Or like dathaal did).

The only regrettable thing was that with him bringing home the fish he had caught, Nami hardly made curry for them anymore. She did manage to make quite the interesting seafood dishes instead though that Tobio found likeable as well.

It wasn't curry, but it was good.

Iwaizumi-san still avoided talking to him when he could, which left him with more time to kill than he would have liked. But now that he was confident enough with his shifting – training in the small bathtub had helped there – he usually went out to swim when Shouyou wasn't available. He had contemplated on following him once as Nami had suggested, but the idea had bored him.

It sounded stupid because Shouyou wouldn't know he was there so what was the point? And maybe, the fact that his kin were to steer clear of any kind of boat was engrained into every fibre of his being kept him away as well.

Tobio did check out the islands one afternoon though, testing how long it took him to go to each of them. There were three in total, two of them even connected by a bridge as they were so close together.

And Shouyou went there every third day, according to Nami, bringing goods and food or anything the islanders had ordered.

Which would be tomorrow, Tobio reckoned. He had come to understand that these were the days where Shouyou stayed out the longest, only coming back when it was getting dark, leaving them with almost no time for playing volleyball.

They still watched videos though, so it wasn't all that bad, but Tobio still felt like these days were the worst.

Because he was bored, not because Shouyou wasn't around (which was kind of in correlation he had to admit).

Perhaps it was also strange to see the human always so exhausted on these days, dropping like dead weight onto the bed after a warm shower, his arms grabbing for the device which they used to watch the videos.

Shouyou fell asleep early on these days too, usually during the middle of a video they were supposed to analyse and it left Tobio torn between watching the video and watching the human instead.

Generally, it ended with the latter and more often than not he found himself smoothing out Shouyou's forehead when he furrowed his brows from a bad dream. It seemed to help at least. The human didn't seem bothered in the mornings. Though maybe Shouyou simply didn't remember the dreams that troubled him at night.

Tobio let out a grumble at the memory, breaking the surface after his swim. His fringe was plastered to his forehead and he brought up his hand to brush it out of his eyes, his lower abdomen back to a human's already.

His eyes quickly scanned the shore, making out the pile he had left before going in, which consisted of a towel to dry himself off and the clothes.

(Never forget your clothes if you don't want humans to stare at you like you were a mad creature.)

Briefs first, then pants and shirt. Socks. Shoes. (He disliked those the most)

While pulling on the garments, Tobio wondered what had him so fascinated with Shouyou and his sleeping expressions. But again and again, he caught himself staring, eyes flickering over his face and down his neck. In the end, he usually managed to get the blanket over the human, cursing him for being such a heavy person for someone on the smaller scale. Tobio knew that most of his mass was muscle though and that the human complained about being cold when the duvet wasn't wrapped around him completely, so he took care of that.

He liked not being woken to Shouyou's nonsensical mutters, thank you very much.

“Well, well. I didn't want to believe it at first, but they really made you go after me, huh?”

Tobio's head whipped around, lips already pulled into a snarl and eyes narrowed as a far too familiar voice piped up from behind him.

And true enough – he knew the owner of that voice. Tobio heard the blood pump in his ears when his eyes raked over the form of the prince, from his very human legs to his sickly sweet, fake smile.

“Dutiful little Tobio-chan. Going so far as to shed your precious tail to follow me here. Aren't you the perfect honourable guard everyone thinks you are? You really make me want to throw up.”

It was definitely him. Not an imposter or a figment of his imagination. Only the real Oikawa Touru would find words like that. Words that made the bile rise in Tobio's throat.

“You-” he started, taking a step towards the other, who kept his immaculate smile in place, all pretty and all wrong.

He got his hands on the other's collar quickly enough, ignoring the yelp that came from the prince. This guy wouldn't get any special handling. He wouldn't even try to be polite and treat him like the prince he was.

Tobio had sworn to kick his ass, to drag him back down underwater the moment he got a hold of him.

And he finally did.

But when his grip tightened, his knuckles turning white and his jaw hurting from the way he grit his teeth together, his feet did not move.

Oikawa watched him, composure back in check, eyebrows lifted. Perhaps he too, had expected to be dragged off.

Then, suddenly, something sparked in those dark brown eyes and a teasing smile appeared on the prince's lips.

“Oh? What's that Tobio-chan? I smell human all over you.”

A loud hiss ripped from his throat before he could even think of stopping it, pupils dilated and fangs bared as the instinct to attack took over. His whole body had gone rigid, every muscle tense as he steadied his stance in the sand. The moment Oikawa had mentioned human – had mentioned Shouyou - everything inside of him had reacted, had sent his nerves on fire, his being hyper aware of everything that the prince did in that moment.

How he started to chuckle, laughing at him the same way he always did when he thought himself above others.

Above Tobio.

But this wasn't about Tobio. This was about Shouyou and how he would not let Oikawa get a hand on him-

“It's true what Hajime said then? Interesting. Did you compel him to take you in and help you out?” the prince cackled, genuine amusement written all over his features.

“Oh. I forgot that you can't sing to save your life, Tobio-chan! No worries though, not all humans are bad, I found. They help out of their own volition.”

Tobio exhaled, nostrils flaring as his hands yanked Oikawa closer to him, his nose immediately flooding with the other's scent, mixed with something else.

He didn't even notice the obvious insult that had dropped from the prince's lips, his mind still in tunnel vision.

“Don't. Bring. Shouyou. Into. This.” he growled, fangs fully grown, fabric ripping where his sharp nails dug into it. He ignored how his legs staggered slightly as the instinct to shift and fight swirled inside his stomach.

He pushed it aside, staying upright and steady – his true form would only put him at disadvantage at the moment.

“Shouyou, huh?” Oikawa hummed as if tasting a new found delicacy for the first time. Tobio knew all of the prince's tones by heart.

Hands encircled his wrists then and the elder squeezed with more force than Tobio wanted to give him credit for.

“Are you really in a position to look at me like that, Tobio?”

All prince, all leader, no playful troublemaker.

Tobio flinched when the piercing gaze met him, but refused to back down. He did loosen his grip a little though, partly because the other's hands didn't ease their crushing hold and partly because he knew the other was right.

Admitting that to himself alone felt like a punch to the gut.

“Look.” Oikawa started, getting his attention again and finally letting go of his wrists. Tobio followed suit, his arms dropping to his sides as he was at a loss what to do with them.

“I know what they probably threatened you with when they made you come after me. And, I never thought I'd say this, but, I'm sorry Tobio. I'm not coming back.”

A long exhale followed and then the prince leaned in close, lips almost brushing against the shell of his ear when he spoke again.

“If you want your precious pearl kept out of this, then stop bothering me. I won't go back. You can tell my father if you want. I don't care.”

The elder pulled back, his eyes seizing him up once more before turning on his heels and leaving Tobio right there, dumbstruck, mouth hanging open slightly and once again at a loss.

This had been the perfect opportunity – he was physically stronger than the prince after all – and he had let it slip away, right through his fingers.

His body still tingled all over, his inner self still convinced that he was in danger, that Shouyou was in danger and though that should actually give him a push, should enable him to move, his body was frozen to the same spot.

Somehow he had immediately concluded that Oikawa couldn't have meant Nami when he had mentioned a human. Nami didn't smell like an ordinary human he knew now. There was the distinctive scent of salt mixed in, which could easily pass as one of their kind.

So that only left Shouyou.

Shouyou with his warm smile and warm body and warm scent.

And his instincts had instantly been sent into overdrive, heart pounding against his chest as uneasiness had washed over him like a tidal wave.

It had felt foreign to him.

Different.

Tobio didn't go after the prince, didn't assault or snap at him because he couldn't handle Oikawa's behaviour otherwise. Because that was what he usually did – lash out until a threat was dealt with in whatever way that was.

This time however, he hadn't made a single move, neither challenging the prince nor backing away. Instead, he had observed him, stance and mannerism set to intimidate and threaten without any actual physical aggression from his side.

His mind had understood that this wasn't only about him. That this was also about somebody else who could be in danger, depending on how Tobio reacted.

Shouyou wasn't even actually here, and still he had been ready to hold his ground and protect him at all costs.

Tobio swallowed the lump in his throat, fingers rubbing over his closed eyelids as the realisation settled into his mind.

That was something new. Something that had never been coaxed out of him. He never held back – he lashed out when he felt pressed and cornered, simple as that.

Yet today...

He was still trembling with rage, his breath shaky and the image of Oikawa threatening Shouyou's safety still vivid in his mind.

Tobio knew one thing then with doubtless clarity. It was a thought that might have already existed within him for a time, a budding understanding that had burst into bloom.

Nobody would lay a hand on Shouyou. He'd rip them apart before they'd even get close.

≈≈ ≈≈

After their first encounter, it felt like Oikawa stopped hiding from him. When he sought out Iwaizumi the next day, the prince was there, right beside the human in what seemed to be an argument between them.

They swiftly broke apart, growing quiet when he approached and he could hear Oikawa sigh loudly, exasperated.

He didn't know the prince to be violent – such behaviour was beneath him apparently – so perhaps he had worried for nothing. Tobio would keep an eye on him and Shouyou just in case though.

“You know why.” he said, his blue eyes resting on the prince, “Your father commanded me to bring you back. Coming back without you is high treason.”

Oikawa had just shaken his head before lacing his finger's with Iwaizumi's and pulling the human to the lighthouse.

“Good luck with that then.”

It had infuriated him.

It drove him literally crazy, his mood souring with each day until one evening Shouyou whacked a pillow right over his head, lips formed into a pout.

“You're not even watching the video! You're just brooding! What the hell is up with you?”

Tobio looked at the human, from his orange hair to his treasure eyes, to his pink lips.

His cheeks weren't red, but his brows were knitted together in annoyance.

He grumbled, averting his eyes.

Oikawa was his problem, and Shouyou had seemed tired before from their practice today (which had been horrible, his fingers stiff and messing up most of his tosses) so he really didn't want to talk about it.

Shouyou seemed to have other plans however, as he suddenly rolled over, a heavy weight settling on his hips.

Tobio's eyes flew wide open, head pressed into the other's pillow as the human straddled him, eyes focused on him, unforgiving and unyielding.

Shit.

Shouyou was upset.

“Something is bothering you.”

A statement, not a question. Tobio grumbled, moving to roll away but then he was being pressed down, the human's hands pushing against his shoulders and keeping him in place.

Strong.

Warm.

Tobio nearly whimpered at being overpowered like that and tried to regain his focus. He didn’t like being suddenly overwhelmed and giving up without a fight was definitely not something he did.

Ever.

Letting out a dark grunt, he brought his hands to the other’s hips, digging in where he knew Shouyou was sensitive and used the moment of reprieve to flip them over, settling his full weight on the human’s thighs and staring down at him.

“Stop that.” he demanded with a growl.

”Stop what?” Shouyou asked, while he tried to wiggle his way free from underneath him. Tobio quickly stopped that attempt, pressing down harder and lifting one of his hands so he could place it on the human’s face, covering his eyes and nose.

“You look stupid, dumbass.” Tobio said, slightly amused.

“Whaf fhe- Fhobio!” the human tried to yell despite being muffled into unintelligibility and a small chuckle left him at that, watching the other struggle with his weight and his hand. He wouldn’t let the human get away so easily, now that he had the upper hand.

But then his gaze fell, and the chuckle faded away. Tobio contemplated if he should elaborate or just let it slide, but before he could really make up his mind, his mouth had already started talking.

“Stop looking at me like that. With….” he paused, trying to find the correct word in Dathaalian and when he couldn’t find it, chose something as close to the meaning as possible. “Pity.” Tobio finished, and suddenly Shouyou sat up, nearly knocking into his face with his own.

He briefly wondered where the human had found the strength to push against him like that, but he realised only belatedly that he might have been distracted. Tobio withdrew his hand, revealing twin treasures and red cheeks.

“I don’t pity you!” the human all but yelled at him, lips quirked in annoyance, “I’m worried about you, you dummy! You keep looking like someone forbade you from playing volleyball with me, or like… or like mum told you there won’t be any milk for you. I don’t know! You just-“ he stopped, inhaling deeply, “look so upset….” he concluded and trailed off.

And then ‘ _donk_ ’, their foreheads met as the human leaned in and all he could smell was embers and sweetness and warmth and _Shouyou, Shouyou, Shouyou_.

He nearly choked on his next breath, his senses swamped and his brain overwhelmed.

Tobio could feel the tension in the human’s body, felt the muscles in his thighs flexing underneath his butt to keep himself upright and against Tobio.

So close.

So warm.

Tobio caved, heart stuttering.

“I found him.”

He said, voice flat. Shouyou bristled, body seizing up for a heartbeat and then he pulled back and Tobio leaned in to chase the warmth, to keep it close for just another moment.

“Your brother?” Shouyou asked and Tobio nodded.

“Yes.”

Silence stretched between them, the other’s eyes fixed on him, not seeing but staring straight ahead. Tobio was sure that he was the same, seeing but not really seeing, his mouth shut tight, his lungs refusing to process any air for the time being.

Neither of them uttered a word, the implications of what Tobio had said hanging heavily between them.

As always, it was Shouyou though who broke the silence between them. The smile he flashed him was crooked, barely something you'd even bother to call a smile and Tobio couldn’t stop the growl that formed in his throat. The smile dropped instantly.

“That’s good though!”

It was. But neither of them felt any happiness at the moment.

“Why didn’t you bring him here? I mean- You wanted to get him back home, right? And now you found him! Which is great! So- Just-“

Tobio decided to stop this disaster before it could enfold any further.

“He doesn’t want to come back home.”

Shouyou’s mouth fell shut at that, eyes blinking up at him in confusion.

“What?” he said dumbly and Tobio hummed, able to relate to this expression far too well.

“He told me he didn’t want to go back. He wants to stay here, I think. But I-“

“You have to make him go back, right?” Shouyou supplied and Tobio nodded.

“Yeah.”

There’s a glint of something he couldn’t explain in the human’s eyes then, something like a spark among the treasure.

“So, you’ll stay until you convince him?”

“Yeah.”

There was no way around it. He had to make Oikawa come back. Even if he had to drag him, though that wouldn’t prove an easy feat, he could tell.

“G-good! That means we get to play more volleyball! It would totally suck to go back to doing drills alone, you know!”

Tobio looked and caught the other’s gaze. He felt the heat seeping through the clothes separating them, noting that Shouyou felt warmer than usual.

“Yeah.”

The smile that crept onto Shouyou’s face then was real, genuine. It didn’t reach his eyes or anything, but Tobio felt a flutter in his chest anyway.

“We should sleep. So we can play a lot tomorrow. It’s your free day.”

With that he clambered off the human, reaching for the device and pushing the upper part down in order to shut it off. He wasn’t allowed to touch the thing otherwise, but he had been taught how to switch it of in case Shouyou fell asleep. (Which happened more often than not)

“Y-yeah. I guess you’re right. About sleeping I mean! Tomorrow is my free day and I want you to toss to me lots!”

Tobio nodded.

“Okay. You better hit them. You can jump much higher if you try.”

“Watch me!” Shouyou exclaimed, smile growing and the lump in Tobio’s throat alongside with it. He barely managed to swallow it this time.

Shouyou got the device away, shuffling around to pull the blanket from underneath their bodies. Tobio grunted and moved to roll off the bed, when a hand wrapped itself around his wrist again, but the touch was gentle and soft, the opposite of Oikawa’s.

His eyes followed the arm up along the human’s neck, pausing there for a single heartbeat before going up until he was met with swirling amber.

In that moment, he didn’t need Shouyou to say anything at all. It was right there in his eyes and he felt oddly connected to the human while they kept their gazes locked. Tobio complied without a complaint, letting Shouyou put the blanket over both their bodies when they had settled into comfortable positions.

He told himself it was because the encounter with Oikawa had unsettled him and he had finally been able to talk about it. It had left him feeling raw and rattled, and having Shouyou close to him eased the worry he carried in his heart.

He told himself that even though he probably didn’t have to be worried about Oikawa really laying his hands on the human, he couldn’t trust the prince or his moods. If Tobio pressed too hard, Oikawa could have a change of heart at any given time. And press and push he would.

He told himself that it wasn’t because it felt nice, wasn’t because Shouyou’s warmth felt good on his skin and that he felt utterly at peace when Shouyou took a hold of his arm again, wrapping it around his smaller frame like the last time.

It wasn’t that.

Only that it was, and Tobio knew it and what it implied.

Stupid human.

Stupid Tobio.

What mer developed feelings for a dahthaal?

≈≈ ≈≈

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> What mer indeed! A certain dark-haired one with blue eyes it seems. -coughs-  
> What will Tobio do now that he is aware of his feelings? He isn't the best with affection and feelings in general, so...  
> Stay tuned if you want to find out!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Mervous


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